Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Sells 500 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.0%

WRB stock opened at $71.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $51.41 and a one year high of $76.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $72.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.95.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.42.

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.