Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $89.69 Million Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,532,660 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $89,691,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.40% of W. R. Berkley at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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W. R. Berkley Price Performance

WRB opened at $62.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.65. The company has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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