BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Invests $641,000 in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,962 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,582,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $417,897,000 after buying an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $98,446,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $89,691,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $71.25 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $65.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.61. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.90.

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.

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