Natixis Advisors L.P. Sells 2,293 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 206,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,293 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $14,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $649,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on WRB shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $78.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.