W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 40,605 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $429,266,000 after buying an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $417,897,000 after buying 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% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4 %

WRB traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,676,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,334. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.64 and a 200-day moving average of $59.84.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.36.

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.