Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $5.57 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 72.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,320 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $642,294,000 after buying an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 7,553,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $593,584,000 after acquiring an additional 54,530 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.5 %

WRB stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,372,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,742,165. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.54. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.75 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.28.

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.