Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Corebridge Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 73,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 605 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after acquiring an additional 529,294 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 100.2% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 7,232 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 335,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,636,000 after purchasing an additional 9,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 546.1% during the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 26,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 22,026 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 7.4 %

Shares of WRB opened at $71.21 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.18. 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 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.