W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 357,468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,647 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.09% of W. R. Berkley worth $20,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE WRB opened at $64.27 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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 boosted 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.13.

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.