Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,021 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $6,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 174.0% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 150.6% in the 3rd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BRO opened at $82.93 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.26 and its 200 day moving average is $76.90. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.00 and a 1 year high of $87.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 21.09%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BRO shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America cut Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $86.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $84.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Brown & Brown from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 144,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.96, for a total value of $12,406,005.08. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 37,460,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,113,605.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.