Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 386,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,768 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises 1.4% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Brown & Brown worth $27,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 758 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 41,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 13,273 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 97,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,839,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $258,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 37,460,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,220,113,605.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BRO. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Brown & Brown from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $87.10.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $81.46. 1,710,291 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,280,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $84.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.17. The firm has a market cap of $23.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.78. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.71 and a twelve month high of $87.99.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 21.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Brown & Brown's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.