Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 571,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,209 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Brown & Brown worth $59,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 142.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $109.55 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.13 and a twelve month high of $114.08. The company has a market cap of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 22.65% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.