Sei Investments Co. Sells 7,521 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 262,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,521 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.07% of W. R. Berkley worth $15,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’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 issued 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 forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.