Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 576,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,481 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $37,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Triad Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,314,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $46,226,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 552,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,074,000 after acquiring an additional 19,503 shares in the last quarter. Barr E S & Co. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Barr E S & Co. now owns 362,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,905,000 after acquiring an additional 57,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,802,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,517,000 after acquiring an additional 57,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $68.97 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $104.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.01.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered Brown & Brown from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.