Diversified Trust Co. Acquires Shares of 10,925 Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Diversified Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 423.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth $49,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4,369.2% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.33.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.2%

Brown & Brown stock opened at $65.05 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.29 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 17.84%.The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.63%.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.