Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 258.0% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,985,000 after buying an additional 465,988 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third 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. FMR LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 42.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after acquiring an additional 330,661 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Brown & Brown by 129.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 547,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,670,000 after purchasing an additional 308,458 shares during the period. Finally, EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 430,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,960,000 after purchasing an additional 254,900 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $110.95 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $114.15. The firm has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.92.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

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.