W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 39,611 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $11,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $3,542,919,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $435,752,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 35,572.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,219,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213,679 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,363 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $193,137,000 after buying an additional 1,140,349 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.68 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.63. The company has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $62.00 price target (down from $64.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Argus cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.