14,351 W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors cut its W.R. Berkley holdings by 23.2%, selling 14,351 shares and ending the quarter with 47,632 shares valued at about $3.2 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported quarterly EPS of $1.17, slightly above estimates, but revenue of $3.74 billion missed consensus and fell 0.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment was broadly cautious: MarketBeat reported a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $70.56 price target, while shares opened at $76.99.

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,351 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $263,326,000 after acquiring an additional 377,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $249,757,000 after acquiring an additional 129,801 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 23.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $192,512,000 after acquiring an additional 550,560 shares during the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $105,639,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $95,040,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $76.99 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $71.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $62.87 and a 12-month high of $79.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.23.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 12.53%. The company had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Bank of America lowered W.R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Oppenheimer set a $70.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $70.56.

About W.R. Berkley

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that operates through a group of specialized insurance businesses. The company primarily provides commercial property and casualty insurance, serving businesses, organizations and other commercial customers with coverage tailored to specific industries and risks.

Its products and services include workers' compensation, commercial automobile, property, general liability, professional liability, directors and officers liability, excess and surplus lines, and other specialty insurance products.

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