Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 229 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.75 on Thursday, hitting $88.92. 106,973 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,164,286. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $55.50 and a one year high of $89.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $69.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.11.

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.