State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. by 8.5%, ending with 76,721 shares valued at approximately $20.29 million.
• Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts, with a target price averaging $284.56, while institutional investors own over 82% of its stock.
• Travelers Companies reported a significant increase in earnings per share of $6.51 last quarter, surpassing expectations by $2.99, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,103 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $20,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TRV. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $276,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,174 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,823,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 58,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,078,000 after acquiring an additional 9,465 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,577 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on TRV shares. Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 price objective on shares of Travelers Companies and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Travelers Companies to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $280.00 to $274.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.56.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In related news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total transaction of $5,547,815.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,932 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.87, for a total transaction of $4,142,166.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,657,685.25. This represents a 71.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,374 shares of company stock valued at $47,929,912 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.46% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:TRV opened at $265.57 on Friday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.39 and a 12 month high of $277.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $59.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is currently 19.46%.

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.

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