Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 53,838 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 46.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 53,838 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 325,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $68.03 per share, with a total value of $22,109,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 52,496,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,571,337,167.12. This represents a 0.62% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 3,663,875 shares of company stock valued at $255,318,672. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $69.21 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $56.86 and a 1-year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

About W.R. Berkley

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.