W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 76.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $51,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 612.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,006,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,904,000 after buying an additional 865,205 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 213.9% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,147,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 782,280 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,639,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $358,039,000 after purchasing an additional 699,297 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $829,511,000 after purchasing an additional 529,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $20,205,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $93.00 to $87.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $76.65 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $55.50 and a 52 week high of $89.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.80%.

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.