Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 2,577 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 150.6% during the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 37.8% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BRO shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $82.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.00 and a fifty-two week high of $87.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.82. The company has a market capitalization of $23.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.46%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.