Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Purchases 8,808 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 51.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,082 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,808 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,291,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,783,570. The stock has a market cap of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.44 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.06. 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 (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is 8.21%.

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.