Sentry Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 1st quarter worth $354,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 608.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 43,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after buying an additional 37,278 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $85.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.80.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 37,460,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE:BRO opened at $81.12 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.63. The firm has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a one year low of $59.91 and a one year high of $87.99.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 15.46% and a net margin of 20.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Company Profile

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.