Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 324.3% during the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth $9,832,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,302,000 after purchasing an additional 17,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management raised its holdings in Brown & Brown by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 430,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,960,000 after acquiring an additional 254,900 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $110.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $31.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.12. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $114.15.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.17.

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.