Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 57,850 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 57,850 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $15,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baxter Bros Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 60,445 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,537,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $210,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $229,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $71.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.