Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Sells 4,247 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lowered its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,831 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,247 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $48,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE WRB traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $61.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,406,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,337. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49. 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 market cap of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.90.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of 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 objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.