W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stock Holdings Increased by Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 70.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,131 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $357,368,000 after buying an additional 900,071 shares during the period. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $52,980,000 after buying an additional 734,474 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,812,000 after buying an additional 664,266 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,210,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,487,097 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $145,545,000 after buying an additional 455,311 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.88. 1,496,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,505,596. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.80 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.94.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WRB. Wall Street Zen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded W.R. Berkley to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.54.

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.