BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 87,275 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 21.6%, selling 87,275 shares, and now holds approximately 0.11% of the company valued at around $39.36 million.
• Brown & Brown reported quarterly earnings of $1.03 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year to $1.29 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 0.6%, with a payout ratio currently at 17.29%.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 87,275 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.11% of Brown & Brown worth $39,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $1,929,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 104.4% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 419 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,130,000 after buying an additional 18,677 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth about $580,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial set a $120.00 price objective on Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Brown & Brown from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, with a total value of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,200. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.02% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.72. The company had a trading volume of 839,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,550,801. The stock has a market cap of $31.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.34, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.81. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.38 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 6.72 and a quick ratio of 6.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $99.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.27.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

About Brown & Brown

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.