W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRBFree Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.64.

Read Our Latest Analysis on WRB

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.9%

WRB stock opened at $73.23 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $51.41 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRBGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.35%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB)

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