W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,440 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493,758 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after buying an additional 2,118,641 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 128.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,507,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,535,000 after acquiring an additional 846,331 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 38.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,031,786 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $115,263,000 after acquiring an additional 559,043 shares during the period. Finally, EULAV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 1,564,890 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $88,776,000 after purchasing an additional 521,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.55 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $59.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $45.75 and a 12 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.22.

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.