Vestcor Inc lessened its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 77.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,071 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 17,316 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $732,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 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
Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.36.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on WRB
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,174,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,716. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day moving average is $60.86 and its 200 day moving average is $59.90.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.
W. R. Berkley Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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