W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Gulf International Bank UK Ltd

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 34.8%, selling 8,498 shares, leaving it with a total of 15,937 shares valued at about $1.13 million.
• W.R. Berkley's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analyst expectations with an EPS of $1.05, while the company also increased its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09 per share.
• Analysts have varied opinions on W.R. Berkley, with price targets ranging from $62 to $80, and a consensus rating of "Hold" from eleven ratings firms.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 34.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,937 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 8,498 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $5,676,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $663,000. 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 purchasing an additional 7,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,531,000 after buying an additional 4,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $70.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.70 and a 200-day moving average of $68.31. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.80 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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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