Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 77,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,190 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BRO. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 277,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,112,000 after purchasing an additional 15,663 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 125,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,422,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,111,000 after purchasing an additional 491,131 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,886,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,546,000 after acquiring an additional 407,006 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $5,171,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $82.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $59.05 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.20. The company has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.81 and a fifty-two week high of $111.10.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company 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 for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

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.