Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 605,166 Shares of 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 holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,542,941 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 605,166 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of W.R. Berkley worth $109,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $73.15. 2,548,231 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,494,459. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.80 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.16.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.