BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 33,289 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 628,670 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 33,289 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.16% of W. R. Berkley worth $36,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $982,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.11. The stock had a trading volume of 311,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,109. The stock has a market cap of $27.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.71 and its 200 day moving average is $62.83.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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 reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.39.

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.