Sepio Capital LP Decreases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sepio Capital LP lessened its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 503 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 1.9% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BRO. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $115.01 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $125.68.

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

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.