W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by EULAV Asset Management

EULAV Asset Management cut its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,420,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 144,426 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley accounts for about 2.0% of EULAV Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $83,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in 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 raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, PFS Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $61.51 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.68. The stock has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.67. 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 one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.