Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 6,841 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,953 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,841 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $9,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 182,633 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,996,000 after buying an additional 3,219 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.2% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.4% during the first quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 51,697 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,679,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $608,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the first quarter valued at about $324,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.42.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,406,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,773,269. The company has a market cap of $27.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.63. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $51.41 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 12.43%. On average, equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This is an increase from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.35%.

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.