Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 28.2% in the first quarter, selling 605,166 shares and retaining about 1.54 million shares valued at approximately $109.8 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings report revealed $1.05 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.03, while revenue matched the forecast at $3.10 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share is set to be paid on September 30th, providing investors with a dividend yield of 0.5%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,542,941 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 605,166 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.41% of W.R. Berkley worth $109,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

WRB opened at $73.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.88. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share 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 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

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.

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