Wells Fargo & Company Cuts W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target to $94.00

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $99.00 to $94.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

WRB has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 1.6 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $76.65 on Wednesday. W. R. Berkley has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $89.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.41.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Institutional Trading of W. R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Glassman Wealth Services raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 123.1% in the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 357 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 406 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 414 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About W. R. Berkley

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.