Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 448 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $947,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note 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 research note 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $63.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.78. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.