NewEdge Wealth LLC Has $5.04 Million Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

NewEdge Wealth LLC cut its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,058 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 14,094 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.44.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $73.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.40. The stock has a market cap of $27.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 12.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.74 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

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.