W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Stock Holdings Decreased by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 964,858 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 71,153 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley accounts for about 1.8% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.37% of W. R. Berkley worth $68,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WRB. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 612.2% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,904,000 after acquiring an additional 865,205 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $358,039,000 after purchasing an additional 699,297 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $20,205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded up $0.73 on Monday, reaching $77.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,059,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,266,556. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.49. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $55.50 and a 52-week high of $89.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

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.