Intech Investment Management LLC Has $12.97 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 221,608 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,208 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $12,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $64.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG 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 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.52 and its 200 day moving average is $59.82.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

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.