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

Aurdan Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 36.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,401 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 21,989 shares during the period. W.R. Berkley accounts for about 1.0% of Aurdan Capital Management LLC's portfolio, 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.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $85,853,000 after acquiring an additional 444,986 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $5,676,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $5,787,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.5%

WRB stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.83. 2,235,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,795,331. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.41 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.64 and a 200-day moving average of $66.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

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.