W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stock Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 23.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,300 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 44.7% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.3% during the third quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 6,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.6% in the third quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $70.56.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE WRB opened at $75.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.43. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $79.26. The company has a market capitalization of $27.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.23.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.46%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that provides commercial property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, and related services. Its offerings include coverage for businesses and professionals across areas such as property, casualty, workers’ compensation, transportation, and specialty risks.

Founded in 1967 by William R. Berkley, the company operates through a group of insurance businesses with expertise in specific markets and customer needs. Its operations serve customers in the United States and select international markets.

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