Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,537,000 after acquiring an additional 371,980 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,302,000 after acquiring an additional 17,934 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,979,000 after purchasing an additional 330,661 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 6.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 779,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45,766 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $116.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $80.33 and a one year high of $117.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 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.