Cibc World Markets Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,534 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $119.93 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $110.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.41. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.33 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given 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 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.