Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 7,729 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 3.5%, selling 7,729 shares and holding 213,098 shares worth approximately $15.66 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported earnings of $1.05 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share.
• W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold", with price targets ranging from $66.00 to $80.00, reflecting mixed views among analysts.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 213,098 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,729 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.06% of W.R. Berkley worth $15,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 191.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 847 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1%

WRB stock opened at $76.21 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $76.97. The company has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.42. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

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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