W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI decreased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,104 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $59.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.39. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.74.

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.