Truist Financial Corp Acquires 19,011 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 730,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,011 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $51,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,680 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.6% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 11,786 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 16.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 47,655 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 6,865 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.3% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 17,096 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 27.2% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.63.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $76.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.26 and its 200-day moving average is $76.41. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.57.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.10. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.