Select Equity Group L.P. Sells 1,594,373 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Select Equity Group L.P. trimmed its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,978,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,594,373 shares during the period. Brown & Brown accounts for about 3.2% of Select Equity Group L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Select Equity Group L.P.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $814,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth $474,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,882,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,065,000 after purchasing an additional 56,033 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 83,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,543,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Brown & Brown by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 493,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,363,000 after purchasing an additional 47,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Port Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 240,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,519,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $119.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.85.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of BRO stock opened at $111.75 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.97 and a 12-month high of $125.68. The company has a market capitalization of $32.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.71%.

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.