W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Holdings Boosted by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 116,957 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley accounts for 1.6% of Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 3.08% of W. R. Berkley worth $685,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $98,446,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $89,691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.51. 767,613 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,065. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.72. The company has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

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.