Sterling Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 92.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 105,248 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “market outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.25.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $69.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.04. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $108.75.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.22%.

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.