Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 257 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 12,830 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 257,211 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com downgraded W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $62.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $59.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.39. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. 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) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.