Baxter Bros Inc. Has $5.23 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Baxter Bros Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,458 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,013 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.23. The stock had a trading volume of 915,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,262. The firm has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $76.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.64.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.