First Trust Advisors LP Has $416.26 Million Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,490,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,301 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.67% of Travelers Companies worth $416,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $815,013,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,626,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,040,475,000 after purchasing an additional 751,715 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth $125,597,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at $112,051,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,537,000 after purchasing an additional 357,687 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TRV shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $312.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.33.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of Travelers Companies stock opened at $306.43 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.49. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.43 and a twelve month high of $313.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.27.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $9.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

Travelers Companies declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.75, for a total value of $3,127,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,366,997. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total value of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. This trade represents a 73.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 92,845 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,631 over the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.