Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,003 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,137 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of W. R. Berkley worth $11,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $857,814,000 after buying an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $642,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $70.30. The company had a trading volume of 2,311,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,779,140. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.43.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WRB. Truist Financial raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.