Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 21,650 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Madison Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,987,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,650 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown accounts for approximately 1.8% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $158,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $4,314,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,420,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,258,000 after purchasing an additional 51,959 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,385,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,919,000 after purchasing an additional 569,037 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,330,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,501,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 48,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,558,000 after purchasing an additional 14,678 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $55.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.53. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.20 and a 1-year high of $113.83. The company has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.66.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BRO. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.73.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc (NYSE: BRO) is a professional insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm that provides a broad range of property and casualty, employee benefits, personal risk, and specialty insurance products. The company works with commercial, public sector and individual clients to design and place insurance programs, manage claims and loss control, and deliver risk management consulting. Its services also include wholesale brokerage, program administration and other specialty distribution solutions that connect carriers and intermediaries to niche markets.

Brown & Brown operates through a decentralized model of operating units and subsidiaries, enabling local client service with the scale to access national and specialty markets.