Eastern Bank Purchases 1,471 Shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB) by 32.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Chubb were worth $1,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CB. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Chubb in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chubb in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Chubb in the first quarter worth about $26,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Chubb during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Chubb by 254.3% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Chubb from $304.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Chubb in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Chubb from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $303.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Chubb from $300.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.14.

Insider Transactions at Chubb

In other Chubb news, Director Michael Corbat purchased 425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.80 per share, for a total transaction of $114,665.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,450 shares in the company, valued at $661,010. This represents a 20.99% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John J. Lupica sold 5,513 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.06, for a total transaction of $1,599,100.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 91,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,447,670.80. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,390 shares of company stock valued at $29,163,135. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Chubb Price Performance

Shares of CB stock opened at $266.56 on Thursday. Chubb Limited has a twelve month low of $252.16 and a twelve month high of $306.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.53.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.84 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.53 billion. Chubb had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Chubb’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chubb Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Chubb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Chubb’s payout ratio is 17.12%.

Chubb announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Chubb Profile

Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical risk, cyber risk, surety, and casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses.