Marshall Wace LLP Has $38.84 Million Stock Position in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,290 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.36% of Assurant worth $38,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Assurant by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,320,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $708,016,000 after purchasing an additional 891,292 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at $143,475,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Assurant by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 281,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,764,000 after purchasing an additional 87,323 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Assurant by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 213,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,533,000 after purchasing an additional 63,550 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Assurant by 48.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 192,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,243,000 after purchasing an additional 62,696 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Assurant from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler upgraded 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Assurant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Assurant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.17.

Assurant Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AIZ opened at $189.01 on Friday. Assurant, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.12 and a 1 year high of $230.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.81.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,162. This trade represents a 14.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.