195,405 Shares in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Purchased by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 195,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,561,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,047,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,898,456,000 after acquiring an additional 313,449 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,746,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,162,917,000 after acquiring an additional 119,481 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,481,805,000 after acquiring an additional 54,363 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $815,013,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,547,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $414,093,000 after purchasing an additional 194,698 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of TRV stock opened at $304.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.49. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.43 and a twelve month high of $304.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total transaction of $16,424,515.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,329 shares in the company, valued at $76,718,956.30. The trade was a 17.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total value of $4,675,516.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,699,602.75. This represents a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 101,765 shares of company stock valued at $29,877,543 in the last ninety days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on TRV. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $304.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.33.

About Travelers Companies

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.