Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 319,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,806 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.11% of Brown & Brown worth $33,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BRO. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 330.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 65.7% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO stock opened at $105.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.28. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $69.13 and a one year high of $107.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

About Brown & Brown

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.