Swiss National Bank Sells 51,000 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 860,062 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 51,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $50,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.8% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 257,211 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $63.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.38 and a 200-day moving average of $59.78.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.