NewEdge Wealth LLC Increases Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,968 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,615 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WRB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $62.13 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.39.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.