Pictet North America Advisors SA Buys New Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Pictet North America Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 88,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,933,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $217,663,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,445,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,000,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,236,000 after purchasing an additional 865,082 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $49,598,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 339.1% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 648,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,118,000 after purchasing an additional 500,847 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BRO. StockNews.com raised Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Brown & Brown news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,121,842.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:BRO traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.00. The stock had a trading volume of 935,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,250,196. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.81 and a 200 day moving average of $88.99. The company has a market capitalization of $29.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.82. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $66.73 and a one year high of $103.87.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.