W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 644,175 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 26,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.25% of W. R. Berkley worth $45,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $63,904,000 after purchasing an additional 865,205 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $72,884,000 after buying an additional 782,280 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $358,039,000 after buying an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $829,511,000 after acquiring an additional 529,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $20,205,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE WRB traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.54. 1,007,939 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,265,313. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $83.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.17. The company has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WRB. Truist Financial reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.38.

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.