W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. cut its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,521 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.07% of W. R. Berkley worth $15,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 44.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,796 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $203,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 42.3% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 323,681 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $18,291,000 after purchasing an additional 96,292 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.6% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 24,032 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 68.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 116,767 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,624,000 after purchasing an additional 47,515 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $69.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,246,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.37 and a 200-day moving average of $60.43. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.21.

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.