GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 3,410 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 179,414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,410 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $10,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after buying an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $60.82 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.73 and a 200 day moving average of $58.65. The firm has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.33%.

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.