Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 144 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 21,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after buying an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 11.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 6.9% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO stock opened at $116.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $117.15. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG 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.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share 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, equities analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 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.