Asset Management Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Asset Management Group Inc. cut its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 11.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,089 shares during the quarter. Asset Management Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,013 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.5640 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.54. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.80 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.54.

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.