Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 57.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 151,742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 207,195 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $8,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,210,000 after acquiring an additional 6,956 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 110.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 77.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 5,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 54.9% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 60,433 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after buying an additional 21,431 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $61.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.35. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. 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.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results 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, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley 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.