Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 123,594 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,233,000.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after buying an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,446,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $89,691,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.0 %
WRB stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.69. 398,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,366. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.32 and a 200-day moving average of $62.59. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 7.42%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.39.
View Our Latest Research Report on W. R. Berkley
About W. R. Berkley
(
Free Report)
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.
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