Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 529,294 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.56% of W. R. Berkley worth $2,132,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $48,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $65.22 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $66.14. The stock has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.02.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.