W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Position Increased by Natixis

Natixis boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1,722.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 164,103 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $10,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.76. 1,819,875 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,776,783. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.61. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.