W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 156.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,400 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $732,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 53.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,837,000 after buying an additional 257,211 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of WRB opened at $63.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. Analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

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.