Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $10.82 Million Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. has reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 7.0% during the first quarter, now holding 86,985 shares with a total value of approximately $10.82 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Johnson Financial Group Inc. and Sunbelt Securities Inc., significantly increased their positions in the company by over 500% during the fourth quarter.
• Brown & Brown reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,507 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $10,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 626.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,350,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $239,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,589 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 13,974.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,112,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $138,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,852 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 172.5% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,314,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,516,000 after purchasing an additional 832,100 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 9,262.2% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 687,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $70,097,000 after purchasing an additional 679,756 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,195,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $428,043,000 after purchasing an additional 566,116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $120.00 target price on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $127.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $113.23.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $94.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,642,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,849,457. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.38 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The company has a quick ratio of 6.72, a current ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $103.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.64. The company has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.78.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is 17.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.