W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,623 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $9,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,382,000 after buying an additional 4,336 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.8% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,131 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,493,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,386,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $75.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $78.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.46.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.