Truist Financial Corp Purchases 19,011 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 730,105 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,011 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.28% of W. R. Berkley worth $51,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.6% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $432,946,000 after acquiring an additional 302,212 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $358,039,000 after acquiring an additional 699,297 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,001,848 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $127,097,000 after acquiring an additional 98,500 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,748,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $111,019,000 after acquiring an additional 62,917 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

WRB stock traded down $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,435,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,438,617. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 7.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.