Marshall Wace LLP Cuts Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 76.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 178,745 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 564,895 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $13,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth $44,210,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.7% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 80,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 126,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 135,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,659,000 after buying an additional 3,852 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9%

WRB opened at $67.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.89. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $55.97 and a one year high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $25.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.85.

About W.R. Berkley

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.