Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $105.15 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,796,835 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 50,751 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $105,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $429,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $417,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,227 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of WRB opened at $62.57 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.65.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.