Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 2,729 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 329.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 46,208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,704,000 after buying an additional 35,460 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after acquiring an additional 444,986 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $565,000. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,147,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 95,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Barclays increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $63.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.38 and a 200-day moving average of $59.78.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

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.