Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $50.11 Million Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its Brown & Brown stake by 30.9% in the first quarter, selling 343,212 shares and ending with 768,395 shares valued at about $50.1 million.
• Brown & Brown’s latest results topped expectations, with quarterly EPS of $1.39 versus the $1.36 estimate and revenue of $1.90 billion, up 35.4% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, payable August 19, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with a target price of $78.62.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund trimmed its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 768,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 343,212 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.23% of Brown & Brown worth $50,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $30,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. The trade was a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.62.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $67.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.81 and a 12-month high of $104.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $62.28 and its 200-day moving average is $66.74.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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