Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 35,392 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. significantly decreased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 81.6%, selling 35,392 shares and leaving it with just 7,954 shares worth approximately $566,000.
• Several other hedge funds have increased their investments in W.R. Berkley, with Brighton Jones LLC boosting its stake by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, now holding 50,503 shares valued at nearly $2.96 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.05, which exceeded analysts' expectations of $1.03, with the company achieving $3.10 billion in revenue.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 81.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 35,392 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.2% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 247,919 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $17,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,702 shares in the last quarter. Tribune Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth about $2,135,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 37,913 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $145,545,000 after acquiring an additional 455,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $72.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.80 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.73.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

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.

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