Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 285 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,659 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $642,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock opened at $61.01 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.22 and its 200-day moving average is $59.27. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.