W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,428 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 654 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $56.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.66.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

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.