Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 166.5% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 174.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 150.6% during the 3rd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.46. 1,710,291 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,280,265. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.71 and a 12-month high of $87.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market cap of $23.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.13.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 37,460,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.10.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.