Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Has $37.49 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 640,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 10,690 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley makes up 6.7% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. owned about 0.17% of W. R. Berkley worth $37,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $429,266,000 after buying an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third 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. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of WRB traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $61.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,639,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,750. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.21 and a 200-day moving average of $59.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Barclays boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research 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.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.