W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Patton Fund Management Inc.

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. sold 40.2% of its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation, reducing its shares to 24,595, valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Steph & Co. and Dakota Wealth Management, significantly increased their positions in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter, with institutional ownership now at 68.82%.
• W.R. Berkley's shares recently opened at $75.94 and reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.05, beating estimates, while a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share was declared.

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 40.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,595 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,535 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steph & Co. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $145,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,608,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $517,000. Retireful LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $311,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 96,851 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Wolfe Research started coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $75.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.65.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for 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 18.83%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.20%.

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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