5,542 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 92.3% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 106.1% during the third 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. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 132.6% during the third 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 bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WRB opened at $80.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.57. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $55.50 and a 1-year high of $89.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.38% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 8.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.22.

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.