Axa S.A. Has $4.75 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Axa S.A. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,705 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,233,000. Cypress Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $1,427,000. Keel Point LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth $206,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 95,623 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 16,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301,692 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,175,000 after acquiring an additional 191,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $72.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $51.17 and a 12-month high of $76.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.43. The firm has a market cap of $27.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.39.

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.