University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Buys New Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Key Points

• The University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in The Travelers Companies, acquiring 21,230 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million, marking it as their 20th largest holding.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Daniel S. Frey selling 20,286 shares for about $5.5 million, reflecting a significant decrease in his position by nearly 43%.
• Travelers Companies reported a quarterly EPS of $6.51, surpassing expectations, with revenues increasing by 7.4% year-over-year to $11.54 billion.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 21,230 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,614,000. Travelers Companies makes up 1.0% of University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,277,851 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,439,392,000 after purchasing an additional 229,160 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,258,490 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,269,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,270 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,752,484 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $903,937,000 after purchasing an additional 70,036 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 236.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,507,219 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $844,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,377,966 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $813,704,000 after purchasing an additional 243,484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Travelers Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays cut 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 note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.82.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of TRV stock traded up $2.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $261.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 479,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,275. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $264.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.39. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.43 and a 52 week high of $277.83. 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 company has a market cap of $58.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $2.99. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 10.97%. The firm had revenue of $11.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Travelers Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 23,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.93, for a total value of $6,419,275.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 48,387 shares in the company, valued at $13,254,650.91. This trade represents a 32.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,365,363.36. This 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 worth $47,929,912 over the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Travelers Companies 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.