W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 61.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 247,200 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $11,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 26,459 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 234.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 39,405 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 27,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,144 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,744,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,805,820. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.82. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $51.51 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.41.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Bank of America reiterated 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.00.

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.