Harmony Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Harmony Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Harmony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth $329,000. Heron Bay Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 110,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,889,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 2nd quarter worth $279,000. Prospector Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 283,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,353,000 after buying an additional 1,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,508,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,841,000 after buying an additional 99,155 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of Brown & Brown stock opened at $101.01 on Monday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.73 and a 52 week high of $106.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.93. The company has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 21.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Insider Transactions at Brown & Brown

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $94.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Brown & Brown from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

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.