Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $4.12 Million Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $4,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 6.3% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 15,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 63.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,428 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,989,000 after purchasing an additional 9,521 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 323,483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,832,000 after purchasing an additional 11,909 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at about $12,675,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Travelers Companies by 8.9% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 148,852 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,310,000 after acquiring an additional 12,177 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on TRV. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $231.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. HSBC boosted their price target on Travelers Companies from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $226.00) on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.12.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Travelers Companies stock traded down $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.39. 47,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,378,625. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.33 and a 12 month high of $232.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $46.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.61.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.06). Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 7.32%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.11 EPS. Travelers Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total transaction of $2,139,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,860.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total value of $2,139,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,860.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.90, for a total transaction of $1,064,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,941,843.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,635 shares of company stock valued at $3,980,827 in the last 90 days. 1.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Travelers Companies

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.