Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock Price

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.97% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WRB. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $59.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $60.10 and its 200-day moving average is $58.39.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. R. Berkley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $642,294,000 after buying an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.