Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Sells 156,010 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 554,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 156,010 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Brown & Brown worth $44,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BRO. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 1,824.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,888,000 after purchasing an additional 50,344 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Brown & Brown currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.44.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $59.96 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average of $69.85. The company has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.81 and a 52 week high of $111.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 17.94% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $57.10 per share, for a total transaction of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Profile

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.