Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,269 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 267,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,390,000 after buying an additional 6,613 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 276,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,169,000 after purchasing an additional 31,071 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 12.4% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 251,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,855,000 after purchasing an additional 27,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.0% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $107.59 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.46. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.13 and a 1-year high of $107.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Argus initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Company 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.