Aurdan Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Aurdan Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 44.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,689 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 15,769 shares during the period. Aurdan Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $367,921,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after buying an additional 2,601,230 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,715,583,000 after buying an additional 625,685 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after buying an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,617,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders purchased 7,612,068 shares of company stock valued at $522,913,948 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.03. The stock has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $59.55 and a 12-month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.