Two Sigma Investments LP Cuts Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 26.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,653 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $75.11 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $51.17 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $28.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. On average, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

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.