Illumine Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 51,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,014,000. W. R. Berkley comprises approximately 2.5% of Illumine Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 137,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,054,000 after buying an additional 9,704 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,527,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 4,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 121,650 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 40,395 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
WRB stock traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.26. 1,272,950 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,888,434. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.51. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67.
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. On average, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.34%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have commented on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley initiated 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 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.36.
View Our Latest Analysis on W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Profile
(
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.
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