Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 25,437 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,136 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,437 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $14,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $66.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.07. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $70.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.