13,979 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by HBK Sorce Advisory LLC

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 13,979 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Amundi increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 257,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began 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 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $61.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average is $59.73. 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 Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

W. R. Berkley 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.