Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 35,092 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 35,092 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $9,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 44.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 323,681 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,291,000 after buying an additional 96,292 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.6% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 24,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 7,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 68.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 116,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,624,000 after acquiring an additional 47,515 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 7.4 %

NYSE WRB opened at $71.21 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.70 and its 200 day moving average is $60.16.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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, Barclays raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.