Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 8,054 Shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,054 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Assurant worth $8,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Assurant in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Assurant by 127.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Assurant by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 92.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Assurant

In other Assurant news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.50, for a total transaction of $604,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jay Rosenblum sold 1,000 shares of Assurant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.93, for a total transaction of $201,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,377,725.75. This represents a 7.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on AIZ shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Assurant from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assurant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Assurant from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Assurant from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.67.

Assurant Price Performance

Shares of AIZ stock traded down $2.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $201.37. 102,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,388. Assurant, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.12 and a fifty-two week 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $198.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.22. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92 and a beta of 0.59.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Assurant had a return on equity of 17.25% and a net margin of 6.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Assurant Company 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.