Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Purchases New Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 98,830 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,990,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,259,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,236. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $83.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.80.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.