Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 174.0% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown in the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $85.00 to $78.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,113,605.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 16.43% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

NYSE BRO opened at $85.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.79. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.71 and a 12-month high of $87.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.91.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.09% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Brown & Brown’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Brown & Brown 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.