W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 664 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $4,801,000. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 60,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after buying an additional 20,250 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 205.9% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 68,526 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,385,000 after buying an additional 46,125 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $3,245,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 92,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after buying an additional 30,833 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $60.74 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.75 and a 12 month high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.08.

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.