Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 106,785 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 914,448 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 106,785 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $53,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 6,829 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 65.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 147,052 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,342,000 after purchasing an additional 48,951 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 26.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,905,000 after buying an additional 25,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 24,701 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 7,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE WRB opened at $62.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.62. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley 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.