Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Makes New $320,000 Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,462 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $85,853,000 after acquiring an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during 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 buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 72.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,574,000 after buying an additional 41,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 105.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 16,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 276,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,800,193. The company has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.10. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.59.

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.