Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 277,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,551 shares during the quarter. Brown & Brown makes up 1.5% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $28,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 28,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,866,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 77.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 324,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,079,000 after purchasing an additional 141,700 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 217,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,225,000 after buying an additional 50,837 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $121.44 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $121.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.82. The firm has a market cap of $34.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

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.