W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 6.5%, retaining 636,698 shares valued at approximately $45.3 million.
• W.R. Berkley Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.5%.
• Analysts' ratings for W.R. Berkley vary, with the stock receiving one Strong Buy, two Buy, nine Hold, and one Sell ratings, while the consensus price target stands at $72.54.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 636,698 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 44,439 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.17% of W.R. Berkley worth $45,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $72.5950 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $27.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.80 and a one year high of $76.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.57.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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. 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 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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.

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