Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 947,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,535 shares during the period. Brown & Brown comprises about 1.9% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Brown & Brown worth $96,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,940,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,054,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,964 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after acquiring an additional 94,121 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,099,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $620,737,000 after purchasing an additional 118,569 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the 4th quarter valued at about $313,412,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $125.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.97.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

About Brown & Brown

Brown & Brown, Inc is an insurance agency, wholesale brokerage, insurance program and service organization. It engages in the provision of insurance brokerage services and casualty insurance underwriting services. It operates through the following segments: Retail, National Programs, Wholesale Brokerage, and Services.