B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires New Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,733 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after buying an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,333,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $75,645,000 after acquiring an additional 490,669 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 1,363,295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,340,000 after acquiring an additional 439,853 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 987,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $56,039,000 after acquiring an additional 316,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 911,062 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,685,000 after purchasing an additional 303,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $62.27 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.75 and a fifty-two week high of $62.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. W. R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

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.