Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. Decreases Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. decreased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,632 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown makes up 2.1% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $13,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 4,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 20,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $118.85.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO traded down $2.56 on Wednesday, reaching $108.39. 3,104,055 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,717,809. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.92. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.31 and a 12 month high of $125.68. The firm has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.71%.

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.