Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 5,901 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,191,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,901 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 2.34% of Assurant worth $249,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AIZ. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Assurant during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 192.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 219.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 150 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Assurant by 503.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Assurant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AIZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Assurant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Assurant from $217.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.83.

Assurant Stock Performance

Shares of Assurant stock traded up $2.74 on Thursday, reaching $188.48. The stock had a trading volume of 217,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,282. The business's 50-day moving average price is $196.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.63 and a fifty-two week high of $230.55. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.61. Assurant had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.78 earnings per share. Assurant's revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 EPS for the current year.

Assurant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Assurant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.94%.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In related news, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. The trade was a 7.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% 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.