Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Has $559,000 Stock Position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP decreased its holdings in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 745 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in Brown & Brown by 166.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its stake in Brown & Brown by 150.6% during 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 worth $42,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Brown & Brown

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

Brown & Brown Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BRO traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,518,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,340. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.00 and a 1 year high of $87.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.30 and its 200 day moving average is $76.99. The firm has a market cap of $23.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Brown & Brown had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 21.09%. Brown & Brown’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Brown & Brown from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Brown & Brown from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Brown & Brown from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $87.10.

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.