W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 56.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,226 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 591,965 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,582,000 after purchasing an additional 247,681 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Citizens National Bank Trust Department raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 32,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 10,095 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 11,099 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 3,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 147,052 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,342,000 after buying an additional 48,951 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock traded up $2.46 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,659,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,799,741. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $58.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.76. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $44.88 and a 1-year high of $61.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.08.

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.