Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC trimmed its stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,914 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Assurant were worth $34,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AIZ. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $370,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Assurant by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 22,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,875,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at $371,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,535,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Assurant

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Assurant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Performance

AIZ opened at $189.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $202.17 and a 200-day moving average of $206.81. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Assurant

Assurant, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service contracts and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, commercial equipment, and other related services.