Somerset Trust Co Sells 563 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Somerset Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 563 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 6,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 4.3% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BRO. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus started coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.08.

Brown & Brown Stock Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $105.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.23 and a twelve month high of $114.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.32 and its 200 day moving average is $103.17.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.35%.

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.