Access Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Access Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 31.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,213 shares during the quarter. Access Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $2,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Brown & Brown by 298.5% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Brown & Brown during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Brown & Brown news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Brown & Brown stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $113.01. The stock had a trading volume of 42,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,299. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.06. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $32.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s payout ratio is presently 16.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus started coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Brown & Brown Company 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.