Parnassus Investments LLC Has $62.06 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,060,467 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 73,747 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.28% of W. R. Berkley worth $62,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 279.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.31. 1,326,227 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,653,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.82. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

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W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.