Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $15.88 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 57,850 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.07% of W. R. Berkley worth $15,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,574,000 after acquiring an additional 41,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $71.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.70 and its 200-day moving average is $60.15. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley 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.