Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Purchases 12,521 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 79.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,241 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,521 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 11,722,476 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $685,999,000 after purchasing an additional 116,957 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 41,709 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 79,550 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,655,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Natixis grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1,722.3% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 173,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $10,161,000 after purchasing an additional 164,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 13,608 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.90.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

WRB opened at $71.25 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day moving average is $65.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.61. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

W. R. Berkley 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.

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