Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Raises Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 267,013 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,059 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.07% of W. R. Berkley worth $15,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,436,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,132,262,000 after acquiring an additional 529,294 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 worth $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825,238 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $429,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,073 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $417,897,000 after buying an additional 2,616,227 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $70.15 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.36. The company has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.21.

W. R. Berkley 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.