Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 61.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 39,106 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after acquiring an additional 529,294 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 116,957 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $449,168,000 after buying an additional 103,350 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $280,156,000 after acquiring an additional 632,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $272,582,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $73.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,537,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,373. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.70. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.41 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $27.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.43.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released 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). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.

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.