Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Increases Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 95,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $89,691,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 88,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,175,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $623,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,527,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. 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 several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $62.61 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.85 and a 200 day moving average of $59.56. The firm has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.