131,863 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Purchased by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 131,863 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,723,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital boosted 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 valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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 note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.59.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,574,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,806,542. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $63.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.01. The stock has a market cap of $25.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.