Vest Financial LLC Sells 71,834 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC reduced its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. by 13.5%, selling 71,834 shares in the second quarter, and now owns approximately 0.16% of the company valued at $51.16 million.
• In recent insider trading, *Directors Bronislaw Edmund Masojada* and *Paul J. Krump* significantly increased their positions, with Masojada purchasing 1,000 shares and Krump acquiring 2,678 shares.
• Brown & Brown reported earnings per share of $1.03 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, yielding 0.6% annually.

Vest Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 13.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 461,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,834 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Brown & Brown worth $51,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BRO. Bares Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth $31,000. SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 188.6% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 254 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 1,129.6% in the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director Bronislaw Edmund Masojada bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.44 per share, for a total transaction of $91,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,200. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Krump bought 2,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $93.31 per share, for a total transaction of $249,884.18. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,353 shares in the company, valued at $499,488.43. The trade was a 100.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 15.59% of the company's stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $96.01 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $94.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.76. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.99 and a 1-year high of $125.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.79. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a $0.15 dividend. 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 currently 17.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $122.00 to $106.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Brown & Brown from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.92.

Brown & Brown Company 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.

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