New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,273 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,273 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of W.R. Berkley worth $17,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 10,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:WRB opened at $72.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.22. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $62.87 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WRB. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.31.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.