Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 438 Shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,911 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Loews were worth $839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Loews by 345.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,114,000 after acquiring an additional 229,965 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Loews by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 477,484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,745,000 after purchasing an additional 229,956 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Loews by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,499,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $126,983,000 after purchasing an additional 217,115 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Loews by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,012,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $84,602,000 after buying an additional 89,902 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Loews by 13.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 752,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $59,473,000 after buying an additional 87,259 shares during the period. 58.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 47,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.88, for a total value of $4,043,343.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,705,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $569,165,301.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 7,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total transaction of $635,408.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,568,191 shares in the company, valued at $132,276,910.85. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,860 shares of company stock worth $13,486,463 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 18.70% of the company’s stock.

Loews Stock Performance

Shares of L opened at $87.22 on Monday. Loews Co. has a 1 year low of $72.91 and a 1 year high of $88.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $85.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.07. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.80.

Loews (NYSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loews had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 8.08%.

Loews Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio is 3.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Loews from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Loews Profile

Loews Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. The company offers specialty insurance products, such as management and professional liability, and other coverage products; surety and fidelity bonds; property insurance products that include standard and excess property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto, surplus, and umbrella coverages.