Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB – Free Report) by 313.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 427.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,899,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $790,947,000 after purchasing an additional 8,831,553 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,664,707 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 65.6% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,940,770 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $795,136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,732,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $199,140,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 119.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,377,556 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,475 shares in the last quarter. 67.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
W. R. Berkley Stock Performance
Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $61.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.54. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $76.99.
W. R. Berkley Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 26th were given a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from W. R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.67%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.45.
W. R. Berkley Profile
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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