W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,126,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 26,990 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley accounts for about 2.3% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $78,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,596,795,000 after purchasing an additional 309,828 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,143,256,000 after purchasing an additional 149,605 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $682,816,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $435,752,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,363 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Weiss Ratings lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $65.24 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $62.87 and a one year high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.10.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

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.