Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 1.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 571,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,209 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $59,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 5.5% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 109,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,326,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 129.3% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 547,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,670,000 after acquiring an additional 308,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 0.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 22,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE BRO opened at $109.55 on Friday. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.13 and a 1 year high of $114.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.16 and a 200 day moving average of $97.59.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.35%.

About Brown & Brown

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.