W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. has increased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation by 101.3%, now owning approximately 191,538 shares valued at about $13.63 million.
• W.R. Berkley's stock trading has shown a recent price increase to $71.42, with a market capitalization of $27.09 billion and a PE ratio of 16.27.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.09 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.08, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 101.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,538 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 96,408 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. owned 0.05% of W.R. Berkley worth $13,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 121.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,022,039 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $357,368,000 after acquiring an additional 900,071 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 7,314.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 744,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,980,000 after acquiring an additional 734,474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8,709.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 671,893 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $47,812,000 after purchasing an additional 664,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,787,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $280,156,000 after acquiring an additional 632,578 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.75. 3,939,336 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,152,673. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.80 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $26.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average is $70.70 and its 200-day moving average is $68.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.54.

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.