W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $71.00

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 3.16% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WRB. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut W.R. Berkley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.00.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.5%

WRB traded down $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $68.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,235,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,795,629. The stock has a market cap of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.41. W.R. Berkley has a 1 year low of $51.41 and a 1 year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $72.64 and its 200 day moving average is $66.43.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 19.66%. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.