W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $64.94 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $45.75 and a twelve month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

About W. R. Berkley

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.