New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $29.54 Million Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 289,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,900 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $29,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,302,000 after purchasing an additional 17,934 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,979,000 after purchasing an additional 330,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 779,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $111.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.13 and its 200-day moving average is $105.35. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.33 and a 1-year high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.