Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Invests $79,000 in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during 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 during the period. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE WRB opened at $60.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.84. 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 $23.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $50.73 and a 12 month high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.