Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 53,800 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 39.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 53,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BRO. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE BRO opened at $57.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.10. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $53.81 and a one year high of $113.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $88.00 to $81.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 13.13% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.