W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 69.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,970 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $47,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WRB stock opened at $58.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.55.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.