Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Travelers Companies by 14.9% during the first quarter, leaving it with 5,377 shares worth approximately $1,422,000.
• Travelers Companies achieved earnings of $6.51 per share for the most recent quarter, significantly exceeding expectations of $3.52, and reported revenue of $11.54 billion, up by 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, representing a 1.6% yield, to be paid to investors on September 30th.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,377 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 942 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TRV. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 236.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,507,219 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $844,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466,098 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 31,132.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,203,481 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $582,733,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196,426 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the first quarter worth about $294,755,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 153.8% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,497,339 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $360,694,000 after purchasing an additional 907,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 25.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,934,625 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $511,631,000 after purchasing an additional 390,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 1.4%

Travelers Companies stock traded down $3.8490 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $272.4410. The company had a trading volume of 1,058,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,750. The stock has a market cap of $61.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.51. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.93 and a 1 year high of $279.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $263.33 and a 200 day moving average of $260.54.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $2.99. The company had revenue of $11.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TRV. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $280.00 to $274.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $284.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 36,199 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.20, for a total transaction of $9,925,765.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 118,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,387,407.20. This trade represents a 23.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total transaction of $5,547,815.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,363.36. This trade represents a 42.96% 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 three months. 1.46% of the stock is currently 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.