Corient Private Wealth LLC Reduces Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Corient Private Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 205,028 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,852 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $11,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 43,350 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after buying an additional 14,750 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE WRB opened at $63.65 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.87. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid 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 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports 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 for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.