Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 103,350 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,694,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 103,350 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $449,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,038 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.54.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.