29,653 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 29,653 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,330,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE WRB traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,434,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,762,285. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $61.28. The stock has a market cap of $22.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.67 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.67.

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.