W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Baxter Bros Inc.

Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 214,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,755,052. The company's fifty day moving average is $71.00 and its 200-day moving average is $64.54. The company has a market capitalization of $28.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $51.17 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.