W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Holdings Lessened by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,154 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,155 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,439,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,161,417,000 after buying an additional 195,763 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $593,584,000 after purchasing an additional 54,530 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,698,311 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $197,838,000 after purchasing an additional 92,242 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,041,442 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $144,371,000 after buying an additional 39,594 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $160,128,000 after acquiring an additional 139,588 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.67 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $58.67 to $55.33 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.67.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $2.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $56.48. 2,528,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,766,258. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $41.82 and a 1-year high of $61.28.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

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.