Parnassus Investments LLC Acquires 350,145 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,134,214 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 350,145 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC owned approximately 0.30% of W. R. Berkley worth $64,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 58.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,333,418 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $75,645,000 after acquiring an additional 490,669 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 47.6% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,363,295 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,340,000 after acquiring an additional 439,853 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.1% in the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 987,823 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $56,039,000 after acquiring an additional 316,269 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 911,062 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $51,685,000 after purchasing an additional 303,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of 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 increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB traded down $0.64 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.19. 825,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,780,688. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $61.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.27.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.20%.

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.