W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Sold by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 964,858 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 71,153 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley accounts for approximately 1.8% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.37% of W. R. Berkley worth $68,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.4% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 945,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $60,015,000 after acquiring an additional 39,716 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,970,000. NatWest Group plc acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $8,791,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $870,000. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 53,112 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,126,000 after acquiring an additional 12,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.71 on Monday, reaching $77.37. 1,060,230 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,266,569. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.59. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.