ING Groep NV Cuts Stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 42.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,440 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,884 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $3,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,044,839 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $619,241,000 after buying an additional 165,708 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,334,882 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $474,774,000 after purchasing an additional 37,029 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 16.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,388,019 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $319,348,000 after purchasing an additional 196,011 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 8.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,150,213 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $233,769,000 after purchasing an additional 85,619 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,112,547 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $226,307,000 after purchasing an additional 14,764 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Travelers Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $233.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $247.90.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

TRV traded up $4.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $260.82. 1,305,442 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,304,455. The company has a market cap of $59.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.62. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $169.18 and a one year high of $269.55. The company's fifty day moving average price is $244.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.32. 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 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. The company had revenue of $11.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 10.02%. Travelers Companies's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 18.64 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 3,941 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.45, for a total value of $1,026,433.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,671.75. The trade was a 69.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 4,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.46, for a total transaction of $1,145,639.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,302,736.96. The trade was a 21.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,999 shares of company stock valued at $16,580,166 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.33% of the company's stock.

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.