W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,050 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,950 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,709 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,905,000 after acquiring an additional 25,385 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 56.6% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 127,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,257,000 after buying an additional 46,226 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 71.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 591,965 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,582,000 after purchasing an additional 247,681 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Citizens National Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.8% in the third quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 32,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 10,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.7 %

WRB stock traded down $1.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.62. 1,183,989 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,171,100. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $44.88 and a 52-week high of $61.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

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.