Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Position Trimmed by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Brown & Brown by 24.5%, holding 28,582 shares worth approximately $3.56 million after selling 9,281 shares in the first quarter.
• Various institutional investors, including Marshall Wace LLP and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, increased their stakes significantly in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter, with Marshall Wace's stake rising by 977.3%.
• Brown & Brown reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 24.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,281 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $907,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 977.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 43,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,437,000 after buying an additional 39,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,564,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $159,579,000 after buying an additional 26,770 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. The trade was 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 Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of BRO traded up $0.2060 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.6060. The stock had a trading volume of 1,593,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,848,808. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a current ratio of 6.72. The firm has a market cap of $31.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $102.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.10. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.38 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm 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 company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Brown & Brown's payout ratio is 17.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $104.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus restated a "hold" rating on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.64.

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.