W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP trimmed its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,078 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,830 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after purchasing an additional 41,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.7% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $66.38 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $66.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.07. The company has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.