Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 23,705 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,705 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $7,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BRO. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 324.3% in the fourth quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after buying an additional 14,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 161,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after buying an additional 40,881 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 304,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,055,000 after acquiring an additional 50,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silphium Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Brown & Brown by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,976,000 after acquiring an additional 10,530 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

BRO opened at $117.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $109.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.96. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $33.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 17.81%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.