OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Trims Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lessened its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 191.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 847 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $76.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.97 and a fifty-two week high of $76.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.91.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.