Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 229 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,938 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 19,887 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,626 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,300,000. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 10,023 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 4,853 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.75 on Thursday, reaching $88.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 106,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,286. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.43. The company has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up previously from $69.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

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.