Covey Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,605 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Covey Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,605 shares during the period. Brown & Brown accounts for about 3.4% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $136,302,000 after purchasing an additional 17,934 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 6.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 779,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,749,000 after purchasing an additional 45,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $111.69 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.35. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.33 and a 12 month high of $114.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Bank of America raised their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

About Brown & Brown

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.