W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 146,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $8,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. PFS Partners LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE WRB opened at $62.34 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.31. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.