Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Virtu Financial LLC cut its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 79.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,541 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 1.4% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 117,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,203,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Brown & Brown by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Brown & Brown by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,466,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,537,000 after purchasing an additional 371,980 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brown & Brown by 5.5% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,974,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of BRO stock opened at $100.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.41. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.19 and a 1-year high of $114.15. The company has a market cap of $28.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 6th. This is an increase from Brown & Brown’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BRO shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus began coverage on Brown & Brown in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Brown & Brown in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.46.

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.