Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Dempze Nancy E

Dempze Nancy E lessened its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 954 shares during the quarter. Dempze Nancy E’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,412,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Brown & Brown Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The stock has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.97.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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.