Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.99% of W. R. Berkley worth $429,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.28.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.76. 1,372,499 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,742,165. 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 1 year low of $45.75 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.