Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 90,850 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 88.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 90,850 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $685,999,000 after acquiring an additional 116,957 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $449,168,000 after purchasing an additional 103,350 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $280,156,000 after buying an additional 632,578 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $72.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,517,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,768,833. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.52 and its 200 day moving average is $62.73.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $68.39.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

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.