Unigestion Holding SA Purchases 4,222 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,880 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 4,222 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. 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 restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.13.

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W. R. Berkley Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded up $1.48 on Friday, reaching $68.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 851,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,798,871. The company has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. 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 $76.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.89.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.