Raymond James & Associates lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 749,007 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 20,016 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.29% of W. R. Berkley worth $52,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EULAV Asset Management lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $60,015,000 after acquiring an additional 39,716 shares in the last quarter. NatWest Group plc bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,791,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 43,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 7,656 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 243,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $15,469,000 after acquiring an additional 9,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 108,718 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,903,000 after purchasing an additional 39,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $69.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.11.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on WRB
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $88.44. 1,645,975 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,190,029. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 11.38%. W. R. Berkley's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.70%.
W. R. Berkley Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider W. R. Berkley, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and W. R. Berkley wasn't on the list.
While W. R. Berkley currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.
Get This Free Report
