Marshall Wace LLP Acquires 83,540 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 307.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,735 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 83,540 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after purchasing an additional 529,294 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $449,168,000 after buying an additional 103,350 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,582,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,553,016 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $266,442,000 after acquiring an additional 231,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $71.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The business's 50-day moving average is $65.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. Research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.90.

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.

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