Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,585 W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 3,585 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. PFS Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 108.1% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.22.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $64.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.94. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $45.75 and a 52-week high of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $24.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

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.