Waverly Advisors LLC Takes Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,712 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB traded up $0.64 on Thursday, hitting $73.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,324,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,761,288. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $51.17 and a one year high of $76.38.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on 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 reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley 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.