W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,294 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $6,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,289 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 15,632 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,782 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $73.29 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $27.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.39.

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.