Argent Trust Co Invests $315,000 in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO)

Argent Trust Co purchased a new stake in Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BRO. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Brown & Brown by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 10,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Brown & Brown during the second quarter worth about $17,241,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Brown & Brown by 8.0% in the 2nd 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. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Brown & Brown by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 464,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,568,000 after purchasing an additional 74,477 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Brown & Brown by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 738,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,069,000 after purchasing an additional 194,031 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Brown & Brown Trading Down 0.4 %

BRO opened at $101.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $100.70 and its 200-day moving average is $91.83. Brown & Brown, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.73 and a 1-year high of $106.02.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. Brown & Brown had a net margin of 21.95% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Brown & Brown, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brown & Brown Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Brown & Brown’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Brown & Brown from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Brown & Brown from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Brown & Brown from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays assumed coverage on Brown & Brown in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Brown & Brown from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of Brown & Brown stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO R. Andrew Watts sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.32, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,872,802.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Hyatt J. Brown sold 134,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 17.02% of the company’s stock.

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.