W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 435,274 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,331 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley makes up approximately 6.4% of Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $30,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 55.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,331,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,620,232,000 after purchasing an additional 8,664,707 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $795,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732,333 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.6% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $432,946,000 after acquiring an additional 302,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,039,000 after acquiring an additional 699,297 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $80.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,670,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,662. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.22.

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.