Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley makes up approximately 1.1% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE WRB opened at $73.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.32 and its 200 day moving average is $64.05. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WRB. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.64.

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.