Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 94,713 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Shell Asset Management Co. trimmed its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 94,713 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,420,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,258,000 after purchasing an additional 51,959 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the second quarter valued at $1,109,000. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 69.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,385,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,919,000 after acquiring an additional 569,037 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,166,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,925,000 after acquiring an additional 46,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 760,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,360,000 after acquiring an additional 178,082 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $69.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.46. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.68 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The firm has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 4th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 4th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 20.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.36.

About Brown & Brown

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.