Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 125.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,878 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 4,934 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during 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 bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.39.
View Our Latest Research Report on WRB
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
Shares of WRB traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $72.47. 1,105,887 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,767,299. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.52 and a 200-day moving average of $62.68. The firm has a market cap of $27.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $76.38. 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 - 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. 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 predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. 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 payout ratio is 7.42%.
W. R. Berkley Company Profile
(
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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