Spire Wealth Management Purchases 4,504 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 1,095.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,504 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during 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 during the period. PFS Partners LLC raised its position 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 worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2 %

WRB stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,455,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,095,832. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick 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 stock has a market cap of $23.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $59.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.84.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio 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.