Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 11.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Brown & Brown by 14.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 71.2% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown during the 1st quarter worth about $586,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 76.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 221,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,433,000 after purchasing an additional 95,937 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Brown & Brown news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BRO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO opened at $105.45 on Tuesday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.13 and a 52-week high of $107.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $104.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.28. The company has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 17.12% and a net margin of 22.65%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

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

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.