W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lowered its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,376 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third 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 period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $60.35 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $48.69 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $23.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.43.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.74.

About W. R. Berkley

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.