Financial Strategies Group Inc. Acquires 40,007 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 53.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,964 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,007 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley makes up approximately 1.4% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned 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 $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.55. 939,022 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,029. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.82. The company has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $44.88 and a twelve month high of $61.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

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.