W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP lessened its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 814 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $62.57 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.65. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

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, 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%. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

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.