4,657,926 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,657,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $272,582,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.22% of W. R. Berkley as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WRB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.13.

Remove Ads

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.32. The company had a trading volume of 493,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,195. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $62.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.43. The company has a market capitalization of $26.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, 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 results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

About W. R. Berkley

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.