Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.5% in the first quarter, leaving it with 269,143 shares worth about $78.5 million.
• Insider selling has been active, with Vice Chairman William H. Heyman and EVP Michael Frederick Klein both selling shares; insiders sold 37,573 shares worth roughly $11.5 million over the last 90 days.
• Travelers reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $7.71 EPS versus the $6.80 estimate and revenue of $11.92 billion, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $329.11 target price.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,143 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,051 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Travelers Companies worth $78,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TRV. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $276,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Travelers Companies during the second quarter valued at about $382,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Travelers Companies by 13.9% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 68,537 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $18,336,000 after purchasing an additional 8,383 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Travelers Companies by 2.0% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 105,605 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $28,254,000 after buying an additional 2,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,557 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.64, for a total transaction of $483,666.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 259,590 shares in the company, valued at $80,639,037.60. This trade represents a 0.60% 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, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,573 shares of company stock worth $11,504,146. Insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Travelers Companies from $259.00 to $257.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $295.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $331.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $322.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $329.11.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:TRV opened at $336.89 on Friday. 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 Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $251.30 and a 12-month high of $349.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $312.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.46.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The company had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Profile

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.

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