Naples Global Advisors LLC Sells 500 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Naples Global Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 98.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,397 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 59.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 73,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 27,539 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 50.0% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 14,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $202,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $61.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.35 and its 200-day moving average is $58.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

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.