FMR LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 68.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,767 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 47,515 shares during the period. FMR LLC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,132,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 99.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,272 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 4.1% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 842,749 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $66,223,000 after purchasing an additional 33,223 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 14.2% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 123,968 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,741,000 after purchasing an additional 15,420 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.28.
View Our Latest Report on WRB
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
Shares of WRB traded up $0.30 on Friday, reaching $60.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,372,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,165. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $45.75 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.40 and a 200 day moving average of $57.48. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. W. R. Berkley's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.
About W. R. Berkley
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider W. R. Berkley, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and W. R. Berkley wasn't on the list.
While W. R. Berkley currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Looking to avoid the hassle of mudslinging, volatility, and uncertainty? You'd need to be out of the market, which isn’t viable. So where should investors put their money? Find out with this report.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
