760,695 Shares in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 760,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,799,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 38.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,344 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $71.62 on Thursday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $98.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 17.75%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BRO. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.80.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.