Vest Financial LLC Takes Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 44,184 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,144,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 22,954 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,782 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WRB. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,139,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,300. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.42.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for 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%. Research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About W. R. Berkley

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.