Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 4,152 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,590 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,152 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $10,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $272,582,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $172,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $357,368,000 after purchasing an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $52,980,000 after purchasing an additional 734,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after purchasing an additional 664,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $68.67. 285,046 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,930,809. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $52.64 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.93 and a 200 day moving average of $67.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 19.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WRB. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.75.

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.