Gobi Capital LLC Cuts Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Gobi Capital LLC has reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 1.0%, now holding approximately 1,065,937 shares, which accounts for 7.6% of its investment portfolio.
• In recent insider activity, Director Paul J. Krump increased his ownership by 100.11% after purchasing 2,678 shares, while another director, Bronislaw Edmund Masojada, raised his stake by 25.00% with a purchase of 1,000 shares.
• Brown & Brown's latest quarterly earnings reported a profit of $1.03 per share, which surpassed the consensus estimate of $0.99, alongside an annual revenue increase of 9.1% compared to the previous year.

Gobi Capital LLC lessened its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,065,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,900 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown comprises 7.6% of Gobi Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Gobi Capital LLC owned 0.37% of Brown & Brown worth $132,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth about $1,929,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 104.4% during the first 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 raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 7.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 2.5% during the first quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 764,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $95,130,000 after acquiring an additional 18,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $580,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $109.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $112.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Paul J. Krump purchased 2,678 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,488.43. This represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada purchased 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.2%

BRO stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,768,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,563,605. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.34 and a 200-day moving average of $109.48. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $90.38 and a one year high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 6.72, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 dividend 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.