Madison Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,798 The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Berman McAleer LLC increased its position in Travelers Companies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Berman McAleer LLC now owns 894 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 2.7% in the second quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.7% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 8,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,363,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.4% during the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 8,784 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on TRV. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Travelers Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $314.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $324.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $356.00 price target (up from $342.00) on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $354.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 14,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.24, for a total transaction of $5,168,984.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,139,488.40. The trade was a 33.77% 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 Daniel Tei-Hwa Yin sold 7,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.00, for a total transaction of $2,768,211.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 68,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,638,758. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 62,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,688,329 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 0.2%

Travelers Companies stock opened at $363.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $352.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.12. The company has a market capitalization of $75.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.45. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.26 and a 52 week high of $398.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $10.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.41 by $4.63. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 25.41%. The company had revenue of $12.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.51 EPS. Travelers Companies’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 33.82 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.39%.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

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.