Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 70,096 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 88.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 70,096 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Assurant were worth $1,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Assurant during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 219.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Assurant by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.65% of the company's stock.

Assurant Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AIZ traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $192.76. 60,744 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,078. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.60. Assurant, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.12 and a 52 week high of $230.55. The company has a market cap of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.53.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.83. Assurant had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 17.25%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AIZ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total value of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,162. The trade was a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Assurant Profile

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.