Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 38,524 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management reduced its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,460 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 38,524 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,904,000 after acquiring an additional 865,205 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 213.9% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,884,000 after acquiring an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $358,039,000 after acquiring an additional 699,297 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $829,511,000 after acquiring an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,151,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,461,000 after acquiring an additional 352,825 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE WRB traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.56. 846,669 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,260,641. The firm has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.38.

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.