Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. $BRO

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,481 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.17% of Brown & Brown worth $37,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.7% in the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Cvfg LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $1,010,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 249.1% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 9.9% during the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Brown & Brown

In related news, Director H Palmer Proctor, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.10 per share, with a total value of $114,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,719,159.10. This trade represents a 4.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 13.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $68.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.01. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.81 and a 52-week high of $104.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued 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%. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 21.22%.

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.