Sepio Capital LP Sells 756 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Sepio Capital LP lessened its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 756 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 6.8 %

NYSE WRB opened at $65.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.79 and its 200 day moving average is $60.56. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.13.

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.