Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $10,403,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 1,257.1% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 88,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,048,000 after purchasing an additional 82,152 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 131.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of BRO stock opened at $115.01 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $115.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.05.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

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.