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

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 38.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,914,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,190,563 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.67% of Brown & Brown worth $195,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $198,031,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,915,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 258.0% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 646,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,985,000 after acquiring an additional 465,988 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 371,980 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

Shares of BRO opened at $117.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $33.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.85. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.33 and a twelve month 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $109.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.96.

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

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.17.

Brown & Brown Company 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.