Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. by 9.7% during the first quarter, holding 85,932 shares valued at approximately $22.7 million after selling 9,180 shares.
• Various institutional investors have increased their stakes in Travelers, with Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosting its holdings by 700% during the same period.
• The Travelers Companies reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $6.51 for the latest quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.52.

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 9.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,180 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $22,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TRV. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 700.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRV. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $291.00 price objective for the company. Barclays downgraded Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Travelers Companies to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total value of $5,547,815.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,365,363.36. The trade was a 42.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.50, for a total value of $549,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 255,086 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,021,107. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 175,374 shares of company stock worth $47,929,912. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:TRV opened at $274.2330 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $61.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.39 and a 1-year high of $277.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $262.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

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

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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