OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Sells 6,640 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp has reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 4.5%, owning 139,771 shares valued at approximately $17.4 million after selling 6,640 shares in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their positions in Brown & Brown, with Vanguard Group growing its holdings by 1.9%, owning over 30 million shares valued at nearly $3.8 billion.
• Analysts have mixed views on Brown & Brown's stock, with a current average rating of "Hold" and a price target of around $112.64, as upgrades and downgrades have been issued by several firms recently.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp decreased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,640 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $17,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 126,719 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,764,000 after purchasing an additional 8,628 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,620,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $201,595,000 after purchasing an additional 9,250 shares during the period. ICONIQ Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $249,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter valued at $7,546,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 737.8% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 99,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,343,000 after purchasing an additional 87,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.64.

Insider Activity

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Paul J. Krump acquired 2,678 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $93.31 per share, with a total value of $249,884.18. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. This trade represents a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,755,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,336. The company's 50 day moving average price is $100.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.67. The company has a current ratio of 6.72, a quick ratio of 6.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.38 and a 52-week high of $125.68.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.