Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,339 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Brown & Brown worth $18,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $313,412,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at about $198,031,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,054,493,000 after buying an additional 1,335,964 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 1,099,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth about $71,915,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.25.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $116.48 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $33.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $125.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.38.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Brown & Brown 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.