Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Decreases Stock Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in The Travelers Companies by 11.4%, now holding approximately 3.32 million shares valued at $879 million after selling 426,903 shares in the first quarter.
• Travelers Companies reported strong quarterly earnings of $6.51 EPS, surpassing estimates by $2.99, with revenue of $11.54 billion, marking a 7.4% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, payable on September 30th, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,325,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 426,903 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.47% of Travelers Companies worth $879,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bearing Point Capital LLC lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 2.0% during the first quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,428 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 319 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 7,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,936,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.7% during the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,576 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TRV opened at $274.9280 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.18 and a fifty-two week high of $277.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $262.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.94.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.51 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TRV shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Travelers Companies from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lowered shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $291.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In related news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 36,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.20, for a total value of $9,925,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 118,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,387,407.20. This represents a 23.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 23,434 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.93, for a total transaction of $6,419,275.62. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 48,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,254,650.91. This trade represents a 32.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 175,374 shares of company stock valued at $47,929,912. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Travelers Companies

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.