MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 55,736 Shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,941 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,736 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BBWI. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the third quarter worth about $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,153,000 after acquiring an additional 820,379 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 266,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,498,000 after acquiring an additional 40,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,472,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Bath & Body Works

In other news, CEO Gina Boswell purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.64 per share, for a total transaction of $177,840.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,987 shares in the company, valued at $7,202,134.68. The trade was a 2.53 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BBWI has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Bath & Body Works from $60.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Bath & Body Works from $45.00 to $35.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bath & Body Works presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.88.

Bath & Body Works Price Performance

Shares of BBWI stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $38.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,506,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,026,013. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.20 and a 1-year high of $52.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.95 and a 200 day moving average of $34.88.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Bath & Body Works's dividend payout ratio is 19.51%.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.