Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 7,949 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,949 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $25,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $24,167,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,450,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,774,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,786,000 after acquiring an additional 89,159 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 66,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,149,000 after purchasing an additional 19,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $576,000. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:TRV opened at $369.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $343.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $314.21. The company has a market capitalization of $77.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.26 and a 52-week high of $398.70.

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

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In related news, EVP David Donnay Rowland sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $371.69, for a total transaction of $1,858,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,479 shares in the company, valued at $3,894,939.51. This represents a 32.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.09, for a total transaction of $2,196,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,519,811.25. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 62,667 shares of company stock worth $22,688,329 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on TRV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $316.00 to $322.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $314.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore set a $329.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $354.26.

Travelers Companies 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.