Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,218 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 78.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,469,608 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $83,372,000 after acquiring an additional 646,973 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $291,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $1,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.06.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WRB
W. R. Berkley Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.16. 1,257,963 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,762,548. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $51.17 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The firm has a market cap of $27.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $68.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.42%.
About W. R. Berkley
(
Free Report)
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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