Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,194,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,062 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.77% of Brown & Brown worth $196,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 10,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 496,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 98,547 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 460,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,767,000 after acquiring an additional 79,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $101.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.88. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.73 and a 52-week high of $106.02.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

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.