W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 8,709.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 664,266 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.18% of W. R. Berkley worth $47,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth 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. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,782 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.23. 915,965 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,761,262. The stock's 50 day moving average is $71.00 and its 200-day moving average is $64.54. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 fifty-two week low of $51.17 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.