Bank of America Corp DE Sells 106,676 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,003,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 106,676 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.70% of Brown & Brown worth $204,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 534.1% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded down $0.73 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $108.29. 628,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,467,088. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.97 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $31.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $116.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Brown & Brown's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is presently 16.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday. Edward Jones assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.