Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $313,412,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 7.6 %

BRO opened at $115.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.97. The firm has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

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.