Aurdan Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Aurdan Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 36.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,401 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 21,989 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley makes up 1.0% of Aurdan Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Aurdan Capital Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 5.0% during the first quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 20,727 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,475,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. Significant Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,385 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,892 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $69.07. 3,123,112 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,794,099. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.41 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

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.