Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 83.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,532 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 7,961 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,609,000 after buying an additional 6,786 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 23,075 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $74.23 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $71.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.66.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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