Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 13,334 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 715,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,334 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $43,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BRO. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,140,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.5% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,587,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,553,000 after purchasing an additional 180,593 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 6.4% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 8,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,733,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 7.3% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 17,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.47.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $73.96 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $82.57.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 17.63%. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.89%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance brokerage and risk management company headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company helps businesses, public entities, individuals and other organizations identify, manage and transfer risk by arranging insurance coverage and providing related advisory services.

Its operations include retail insurance brokerage, national programs, wholesale brokerage and services. Brown & Brown offers property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, surety and other specialized coverage.