Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its holdings 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 firm owned 2,003,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 106,676 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.70% of Brown & Brown worth $204,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock traded down $1.75 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.01. 1,385,567 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,469,667. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.97 and a 52 week high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

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

Brown & Brown 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.