Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,434 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,011 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,434 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6 %

WRB stock opened at $63.21 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.91.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.