The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Position in Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in shares of Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI - Free Report) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,406 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,203 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Bath & Body Works were worth $1,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Bath & Body Works by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,093,306,000 after buying an additional 208,036 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,235,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $396,815,000 after purchasing an additional 422,973 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,494,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,317,000 after purchasing an additional 445,887 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,178,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anomaly Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Bath & Body Works by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Anomaly Capital Management LP now owns 4,860,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BBWI shares. Barclays cut their target price on Bath & Body Works from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on Bath & Body Works from $46.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.44.

Bath & Body Works Trading Up 0.7%

BBWI traded up $0.25 on Tuesday, hitting $33.68. 3,073,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,813,519. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.86. The firm has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Bath & Body Works, Inc. has a one year low of $24.96 and a one year high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bath & Body Works, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bath & Body Works declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailers and home to America's Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap.