Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 7,715 W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WRB traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,116,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,182. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 7.33%.

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.