Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Fenimore Asset Management Inc.

Fenimore Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,418,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,083 shares during the period. Brown & Brown accounts for about 4.0% of Fenimore Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. owned 0.85% of Brown & Brown worth $171,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,491,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $540,728,000 after purchasing an additional 6,186,323 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 658.3% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,975,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,617,000 after buying an additional 2,583,481 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,841,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 401.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,468,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,604,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,405,000 after acquiring an additional 784,873 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BRO. StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.90.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $85.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,212,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,336,719. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.07 and a 12 month high of $87.99.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.46% and a net margin of 20.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total transaction of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

Brown & Brown, Inc markets and sells insurance products and services in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services. The Retail segment provides property and casualty, employee benefits insurance products, personal insurance products, specialties insurance products, risk management strategies, loss control survey and analysis, consultancy, and claims processing services.