Optimize Financial Inc Purchases New Stake in Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Assurant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Assurant by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Assurant by 503.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Assurant by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 287 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 92.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Biju Nair sold 3,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,568,162. This represents a 14.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Assurant Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AIZ traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $189.01. 432,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,941. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $203.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.95. Assurant, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.12 and a 52-week high of $230.55. The company has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Assurant (NYSE:AIZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Assurant, Inc. will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of 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 upped their target price on Assurant from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.