Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,426 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $5,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $623,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $3,527,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 93,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,462,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 98,620 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,771,000 after purchasing an additional 8,212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $62.57 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $65.49. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.63.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WRB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com raised W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

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.