W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Forsta AP Fonden

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 9.2% during Q1, purchasing an additional 5,600 shares, bringing its total holdings to 66,550 shares valued at approximately $4.74 million.
• Several large investors also increased their stakes in W.R. Berkley, including Bank of America Corp DE, which raised its stake by 121.1% in Q4, now owning around 2.95 million shares valued at $172.6 million.
• The company reported earnings of $1.05 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.03, with revenue matching analyst projections at $3.10 billion for the quarter ending July 21.

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,550 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $4,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 2.0%

WRB traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $71.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,803,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,935,716. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.80 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The stock has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day moving average is $70.81 and its 200-day moving average is $68.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 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 firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

About W.R. Berkley

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.