W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Acquired by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 50.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,425 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,475 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $57.19 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $44.24 and a 52 week high of $61.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.67.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.