Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 432 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,315,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,302,000 after acquiring an additional 17,934 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after acquiring an additional 330,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Brown & Brown stock opened at $119.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.33. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $120.61.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. On average, research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

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.