Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 2,496 Shares of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Patton Fund Management Inc. decreased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,496 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Brown & Brown were worth $4,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,355,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,482,223,000 after buying an additional 203,105 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 0.7% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,804,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,893,000 after purchasing an additional 86,824 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 24.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,489,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,979,000 after purchasing an additional 687,783 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Brown & Brown by 105.1% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,068,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,711 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,553,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,899,000 after purchasing an additional 114,688 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total value of $250,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares in the company, valued at $8,872,802.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

Brown & Brown Price Performance

BRO traded up $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $106.73. The company had a trading volume of 268,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,296,146. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.73 and a 52-week high of $107.67. The company has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.20.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.05. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on Brown & Brown from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Brown & Brown from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.67.

Brown & Brown 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.