Swiss National Bank Cuts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 644,175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.25% of W. R. Berkley worth $45,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,904,000 after purchasing an additional 865,205 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 213.9% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 782,280 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $358,039,000 after buying an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $829,511,000 after buying an additional 529,817 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $20,205,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $78.71 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WRB. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.38.

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.