Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Cuts Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 49.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,448 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 81.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,392,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827,992 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $516,837,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,654,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 132.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,929,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,178,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,934 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.9%

BRO stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.70. The stock had a trading volume of 582,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,299,919. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $59.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.60. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $108.36.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on BRO shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.19.

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.