1,128,378 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Coho Partners Ltd.

Coho Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,128,378 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $66,033,000. W. R. Berkley accounts for approximately 3.0% of Coho Partners Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Coho Partners Ltd. owned about 0.30% of W. R. Berkley at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 130,112 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,673,000 after purchasing an additional 8,403 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,810 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $3,284,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WRB shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3 %

WRB stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.55. 1,224,549 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,974,582. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.12.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.33%.

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.