First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 346,579 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 29,147 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.15% of Travelers Companies worth $83,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,389 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 31,577 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. Stonehaven Wealth & Tax Solutions LLC bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Finward Bancorp acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in Travelers Companies by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 92,450 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $22,270,000 after buying an additional 25,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on TRV shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Travelers Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Travelers Companies from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $275.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.32.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $260.53. 1,414,121 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,293,618. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.48. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $200.21 and a 12-month high of $269.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $253.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $1.38. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 19.06% and a net margin of 10.77%. The firm had revenue of $10.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.69 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This is an increase from Travelers Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is 23.95%.

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.