Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Sells 1,182 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP decreased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 9,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.85. 2,861,663 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,259,424. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WRB shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

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.