Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 357,468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,647 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $20,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $272,582,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,121,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $241,218,000 after purchasing an additional 447,797 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $64.27 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.62. The firm has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current 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 $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.13.

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.