First Merchants Corp Has $13.82 Million Stock Position in Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB)

First Merchants Corp reduced its position in shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Chubb were worth $13,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CB. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Chubb in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chubb during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Chubb during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chubb by 254.3% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chubb by 56.6% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. 83.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chubb

In related news, COO John W. Keogh acquired 9,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $292.99 per share, with a total value of $2,874,231.90. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 247,538 shares in the company, valued at $72,526,158.62. The trade was a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Chubb Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Chubb stock opened at $283.94 on Friday. Chubb Limited has a 12-month low of $251.42 and a 12-month high of $306.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Chubb (NYSE:CB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.40. Chubb had a net margin of 15.05% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $12.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.22 billion. Research analysts expect that Chubb Limited will post 21.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chubb announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Chubb Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.97 per share. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Chubb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Chubb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CB has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Chubb from $268.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Chubb from $316.00 to $314.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Chubb from $307.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Chubb from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $323.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Chubb from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.53.

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.