Benjamin Edwards Inc. Takes Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,574,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TRV. Ledyard National Bank raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 2,067 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 2.9% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,499 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 4.1% in the third quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 39.1% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 160 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on TRV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $245.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $207.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $280.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $251.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 2,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $523,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 250,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,099,840. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.80, for a total value of $2,725,338.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 111,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,102,211.60. This represents a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,856. Company insiders own 1.33% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 1.4 %

Travelers Companies stock traded down $3.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $259.69. The stock had a trading volume of 460,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,028. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $180.44 and a 1-year high of $269.55. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $251.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.45. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $11.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 18.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is 21.54%.

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.