DF Dent & Co. Inc. Acquires 8,295 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,293 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,295 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $857,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,947,830 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 128.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,507,757 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,535,000 after buying an additional 846,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.95. 1,467,240 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,862. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $45.75 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.31. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WRB. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.28.

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.