W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Holdings Increased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 329.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,460 shares during the quarter. W. R. Berkley comprises about 0.4% of AlphaQuest LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd 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 boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% during the third 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. raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $62.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.63. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

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.