W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC

Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 50,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,478,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 39,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,132,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of WRB stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $57.75. 7,906 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,870. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.74. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $44.88 and a one year high of $61.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.08.

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.