W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 52.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 238,892 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 82,542 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.06% of W. R. Berkley worth $13,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE WRB traded down $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,467,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,862. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. 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 company has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $60.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.31.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. W. R. Berkley's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.28.

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.