Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 4,818 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,992 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,818 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE WRB traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,422,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,817. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $72.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.04. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $51.41 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.

W.R. Berkley 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.