Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653,336 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 68,385 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.17% of W. R. Berkley worth $46,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings 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 valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,446,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 121.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,949,573 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $172,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,691,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $73.77. 1,063,565 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,758,301. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.17 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.45. The stock has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WRB. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.