Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Stake Decreased by WealthPlan Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management cut its Brown & Brown stake by 53% in the fourth quarter, reducing holdings to 46,600 shares worth about $3.7 million.
• Brown & Brown’s Q1 results topped expectations, with EPS of $1.39 versus $1.36 expected and revenue of $1.90 billion, up 35.4% year over year.
• Analysts are generally cautious: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $80.73, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 53.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 52,539 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,634,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,999,497,000 after purchasing an additional 303,955 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 81.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,479,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,639,392,000 after purchasing an additional 7,827,992 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 13.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,416,190 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,445,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,120,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,230,602,000 after purchasing an additional 660,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,802,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $217,517,000 after purchasing an additional 57,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BRO. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Argus raised Brown & Brown to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup raised Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 13.13% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $56.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.66. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.81 and a 1 year high of $113.83. The business's fifty day moving average is $64.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm's revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.22%.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc NYSE: BRO is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.

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