Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Decreases Position in Chubb Limited $CB

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Chubb Limited by 1.6%, selling 974 shares and holding a total of 60,545 shares valued at approximately $18.28 million.
• Insiders, including COO John W. Keogh, have sold significant amounts of Chubb stock recently, with sales totaling over $29 million in the last 90 days.
• Chubb reported quarterly EPS of $6.14, exceeding expectations, and announced a $5 billion stock buyback, signaling confidence in its valuation.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its position in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 974 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Chubb were worth $18,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Chubb in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Chubb during the first quarter worth $25,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Chubb in the first quarter valued at $26,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chubb in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chubb by 254.3% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chubb news, insider John J. Lupica sold 5,513 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.06, for a total value of $1,599,100.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 91,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,447,670.80. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John W. Keogh sold 9,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.99, for a total transaction of $2,869,544.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 247,538 shares in the company, valued at $72,526,158.62. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Chubb Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:CB traded up $5.6320 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $279.4320. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,438,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,083,536. The company has a market capitalization of $111.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $277.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $282.46. Chubb Limited has a fifty-two week low of $252.16 and a fifty-two week high of $306.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Chubb (NYSE:CB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.84 by $0.30. Chubb had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 16.08%.The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.38 EPS. Chubb's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chubb declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Chubb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Chubb's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays downgraded Chubb from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $321.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Chubb from $314.00 to $324.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI set a $312.00 price target on shares of Chubb in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Chubb in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Chubb in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $326.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.00.

Chubb Profile

Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical risk, cyber risk, surety, and casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses.