2,846 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Purchased by BIP Wealth LLC

BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 71,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 20,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,414,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $78.01. The stock had a trading volume of 851,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,544. The firm has a market cap of $20.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $55.50 and a 12 month high of $89.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $84.47 and a 200 day moving average of $76.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

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.