Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 414,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 139,199 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for 2.1% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Brown & Brown worth $27,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $516,837,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,538,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589,048 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,929,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,934 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,679.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,204,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In other 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 stock was purchased at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $65.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.74. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.81 and a 1-year high of $104.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.62.

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.