Prudential PLC Has $3.30 Million Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Prudential PLC cut its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 57,332 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after acquiring an additional 12,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 72.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after acquiring an additional 41,320 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $65.53 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $76.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.79 and its 200 day moving average is $60.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.13.

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.