Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Sells 1,051,354 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 69.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 456,403 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 1,051,354 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.12% of W. R. Berkley worth $26,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,446,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $73.28. 361,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,760,621. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $67.14 and its 200-day moving average is $62.51.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.39.

About W. R. Berkley

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.