Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $1,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BRO. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $688,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $646,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 9.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,835,000 after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 4.6% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the third quarter worth about $3,552,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Brown & Brown from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BRO opened at $118.38 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.69. The firm has a market cap of $33.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month high of $121.25.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.34%.

About Brown & Brown

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.