Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) Position Trimmed by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 284,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,976 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of Brown & Brown worth $29,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Brown & Brown by 298.5% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 330.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter worth $32,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Brown & Brown during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total transaction of $14,071,226.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.51, for a total value of $14,071,226.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 16.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BRO. Argus assumed coverage on shares of Brown & Brown in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Brown & Brown from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brown & Brown has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.67.

Brown & Brown Stock Down 0.5 %

Brown & Brown stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.39. 4,537,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,317,795. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.73 and a fifty-two week high of $107.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $103.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.43. The company has a market cap of $30.35 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.83.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.