Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 732,760 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,291 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.19% of W.R. Berkley worth $52,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,527,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,317 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,883 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.42.
Read Our Latest Research Report on WRB
W.R. Berkley Trading Down 2.9%
Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $2.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $70.73. 3,455,405 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,775,177. The business's 50-day moving average price is $72.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $51.41 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.
W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.
W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.35%.
W.R. Berkley Profile
(
Free Report)
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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