W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Decreased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,213 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 29,384 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of W. R. Berkley worth $14,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $60.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.08. 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 $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.33%.

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.