Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $4.98 Million Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 25.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 174.0% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.4 %

Brown & Brown stock opened at $92.41 on Wednesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.51 and a 12 month high of $93.05. The stock has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 21.09%. Brown & Brown’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, EVP Julie Turpin sold 3,350 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.92, for a total transaction of $301,232.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,121,842.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BRO. Bank of America upgraded Brown & Brown from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $91.00 to $101.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.40.

Brown & Brown Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.