Liberty Capital Management Inc. Acquires 48 Shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Chubb accounts for about 1.1% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Chubb were worth $5,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chubb by 26,761.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 5,360,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,094,000 after buying an additional 5,340,499 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Chubb in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,169,720,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Chubb in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,158,897,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Chubb by 36,831.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,084,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $629,357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078,390 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Chubb by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,406,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,217,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,545 shares in the last quarter. 83.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Chubb from $303.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Chubb from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. HSBC raised shares of Chubb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $323.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Chubb in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Chubb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Timothy Alan Boroughs sold 14,748 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.12, for a total value of $4,367,177.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,644,927.28. This trade represents a 33.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John W. Keogh sold 85,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.24, for a total value of $24,694,489.92. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 237,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,998,174.72. The trade was a 26.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 121,856 shares of company stock valued at $35,537,155. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Chubb Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE CB opened at $289.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $287.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.79. Chubb Limited has a one year low of $251.42 and a one year high of $306.91. The firm has a market cap of $115.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.40. Chubb had a return on equity of 13.75% and a net margin of 16.63%. The company had revenue of $12.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chubb Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Chubb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Chubb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.67%.

Chubb announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Chubb

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.