65,736 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 65,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,729,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 29.5% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $256,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 89.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,309 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,211,000 after purchasing an additional 31,346 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,488 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 58.1% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,540 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $592,000 after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WRB traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $62.04. The company had a trading volume of 991,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,833. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $60.19 and its 200-day moving average is $57.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. W. R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.