Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Cuts Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,716 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 13,708 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $8,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB traded up $0.69 on Thursday, reaching $59.36. The company had a trading volume of 467,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,176,764. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.48. 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 (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. As a group, research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley 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.