Diversify Advisory Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 64.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,636 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,410 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. 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 buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $5,676,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $5,787,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $663,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $68.25. The company had a trading volume of 607,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,149. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $52.20 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.01 and a 200-day moving average of $66.98. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.75.

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.