Pinebridge Investments L.P. Cuts Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lowered its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,299 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 14,903 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.39.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $71.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 310,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,032. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $65.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

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.