The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,168,621 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 577,610 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $2,079,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $24,167,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 48,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 34,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,737,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 901,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $261,616,000 after purchasing an additional 133,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 192.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 135,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,787,000 after purchasing an additional 89,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total transaction of $869,991.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,678.10. The trade was a 35.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.65, for a total transaction of $3,076,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,125 shares in the company, valued at $13,882,706.25. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,573 shares of company stock worth $11,504,146 over the last three months. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Friday, May 8th. Seaport Research Partners set a $322.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $259.00 to $257.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Brean Capital started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $297.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $311.47.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $296.71 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.13. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.19 and a 52 week high of $313.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $63.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.48.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 24.06%. The firm had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is presently 13.09%.

About Travelers Companies

The Travelers Companies, Inc (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property and casualty insurance products and services. The company underwrites a broad range of commercial and personal insurance lines, offering coverage designed to protect individuals, small and midsize businesses, and large corporate clients against property loss, liability, and other operational risks. Travelers is known for combining underwriting, claims management and risk control services to help clients prevent losses and recover when incidents occur.

On the commercial side, Travelers writes primary and specialty coverages including property, general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, professional and management liability, surety and inland marine.