AE Wealth Management LLC Sells 438 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 14.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,617 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.4 %

WRB opened at $56.51 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $41.37 and a 52 week high of $61.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.20. The company has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley 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.