AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

According to Zacks, “AMTRUST is a multinational property and casualty insurer specializing in coverage for small businesses. They offer workers’ compensation insurance, extended warranty coverage, specialty middle market property and casualty insurance and a host of related products and services.They have built a reputation as an innovative, technology driven insurance company. Their commitment to excellence is the common thread connecting each of our businesses. “

In other news, CFO Ronald E. Pipoly, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.15, for a total transaction of $120,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 289,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,438,327.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stephen Ungar sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.13, for a total value of $90,195.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 80,593 shares in the company, valued at $4,846,057.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

AFSI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup Inc. started coverage on AmTrust Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AmTrust Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. FBR & Co. restated a “buy” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of AmTrust Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, November 11th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded AmTrust Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $72.33.

AmTrust Financial Services (NASDAQ:AFSI) traded down 0.62% on Tuesday, hitting $56.38. 431,274 shares of the stock were exchanged. AmTrust Financial Services has a 52-week low of $50.51 and a 52-week high of $71.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion and a PE ratio of 9.77. AmTrust Financial Services shares are set to split on the morning of Wednesday, February 3rd. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, December 15th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, February 2nd.

AmTrust Financial Services (NASDAQ:AFSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,000 million. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AmTrust Financial Services will post $6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 4th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%.

Several institutional investors have bought and sold shares of the stock. Ipswich Investment Management Company acquired a new position in AmTrust Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $331,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in AmTrust Financial Services by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 1,991 shares during the period. CUE Financial Group boosted its position in AmTrust Financial Services by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. CUE Financial Group now owns 11,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 6,675 shares during the period. 1st Global Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AmTrust Financial Services by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. 1st Global Advisors Inc. now owns 13,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its position in AmTrust Financial Services by 155.2% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 37,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,278,000 after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the period.

Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. is an insurance holding company. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the Company provides specialty property and casualty insurance focusing on workers’ compensation and commercial package coverage for small business, specialty risk and extended warranty coverage, and property and casualty coverage for middle market business. The Company operates through three segments. The Small Commercial Business segment provides workers’ compensation and commercial package and other property and casualty insurance products. The Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty segment provides coverage for consumer and commercial goods and custom designed coverages, such as accidental damage plans and payment protection plans. The Specialty Program segment provides workers’ compensation, package products, general liability, commercial auto liability, excess and surplus lines programs and other specialty commercial property and casualty insurance.

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