abrdn plc decreased its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,365 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,331,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,620,232,000 after buying an additional 8,664,707 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 65.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $795,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732,333 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 427.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,899,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $790,947,000 after buying an additional 8,831,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,491,043 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $325,816,000 after purchasing an additional 35,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 119.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,377,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.96% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.45.
W. R. Berkley Price Performance
W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 17.79%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.
W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 26th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 23rd. This is an increase from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.67%.
About W. R. Berkley
W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writer in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and general and professional liability lines.
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