Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 130,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,403 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.12.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley started 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 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.