New Vernon Investment Management LLC Has $773,000 Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

New Vernon Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 78.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,201 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 48,269 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 0.5% of New Vernon Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. New Vernon Investment Management LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $560,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $70.71. 1,592,626 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,770,589. 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 company has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.13 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.86.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.39.

About W. R. Berkley

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.