The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Shares Purchased by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. by 24.0% during the 1st quarter, holding a total of 1,431,736 shares worth approximately $377.9 million.
• Several other hedge funds also made significant changes to their positions, with Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosting its stake by 700.0% in the same quarter.
• The Travelers Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $1.10, with a yield of 1.6%, to be paid on September 30th to investors of record on September 10th.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 24.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,431,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 276,850 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.63% of Travelers Companies worth $377,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,733,556 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,747,656,000 after acquiring an additional 115,808 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 236.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,507,219 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $844,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466,098 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,403,539 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $899,988,000 after acquiring an additional 25,573 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,620 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $653,443,000 after purchasing an additional 291,506 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 31,132.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,203,481 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $582,733,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on TRV. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $291.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 price objective on shares of Travelers Companies and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Travelers Companies to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.56.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE TRV traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $274.73. 197,930 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,320,755. The company has a market capitalization of $61.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.53. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $224.62 and a 52-week high of $280.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $264.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.60.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.52 by $2.99. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The firm had revenue of $11.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. Travelers Companies's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is presently 19.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gregory C. Toczydlowski sold 11,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.12, for a total transaction of $3,061,710.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,865.92. The trade was a 38.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mojgan M. Lefebvre sold 16,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.54, for a total transaction of $4,668,222.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.46% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance.