Morgan Stanley Cuts Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) Price Target to $60.00

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.50% from the stock’s current price.

BRO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays lowered their price target on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.44.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $57.42 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $113.83. The company has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.2% during 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 lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,888,000 after acquiring an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Company 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.