LPL Financial LLC Buys 16,339 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 4.9%, acquiring an additional 16,339 shares, bringing its total holdings to 351,888 shares valued at approximately $25 million.
• Various hedge funds, including Bank of America and Principal Financial Group, have significantly increased their investments in W.R. Berkley, with a notable 121.1% increase from Bank of America in the last quarter.
• W.R. Berkley recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.08 to $0.09 per share, reflecting a positive change for investors, with a current yield of 0.5%.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,888 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,339 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.09% of W.R. Berkley worth $25,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE WRB traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,884,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,398,756. The company has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business's 50 day moving average is $71.40 and its 200-day moving average is $67.62. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.65 and a 52 week high of $76.38.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.22% 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 last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.75.

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.