Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stock Position Decreased by C WorldWide Group Holding A S

C WorldWide Group Holding A S cut its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 43.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,241 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,314,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 51,959 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 69.7% during 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after acquiring an additional 14,678 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $56.40 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.10 and a 12-month high of $113.83.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus raised Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.73.

Brown & Brown 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.