Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO Shares Sold by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 66,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,540 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $5,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 423.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 36.9% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other Brown & Brown news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,159.10. This represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.1%

BRO opened at $57.86 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.81 and a 12 month high of $113.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.66. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.92.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 17.94%.The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 21.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Argus raised Brown & Brown to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.44.

About Brown & Brown

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.