WBI Investments LLC Sells 26,456 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

WBI Investments LLC trimmed its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,156 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 26,456 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,132,262,000 after buying an additional 529,294 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $685,999,000 after purchasing an additional 116,957 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $449,168,000 after purchasing an additional 103,350 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $280,156,000 after purchasing an additional 632,578 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,248,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,869. The business's 50 day moving average is $69.17 and its 200-day moving average is $63.48. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $51.17 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $27.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business 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 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.64.

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.