Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Boosts Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,109 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,064 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 15.9% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 6.4% in the first quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter worth about $246,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $59.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.60. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12 month low of $43.20 and a 12 month high of $61.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

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.