Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 911 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $3,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,901,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,316,259,000 after purchasing an additional 94,121 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,537,000 after buying an additional 371,980 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,356,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,394,000 after buying an additional 40,881 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 42.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,109,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,979,000 after buying an additional 330,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 11,337.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,108,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on 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 lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:BRO opened at $120.08 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.33 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $109.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 20.68%. Research analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.34%.

Brown & Brown 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.