Global Assets Advisory LLC Lowers Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Global Assets Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 715 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.54.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $76.87 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $77.31. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.22.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

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.