Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Reduces Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lowered its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 248,161 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,990 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $14,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WRB. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut W. R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $70.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $68.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.09 and a 200-day moving average of $61.15. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

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.