Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $2.27 Million Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 11.7% in the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 3,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,037,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,128,000 after purchasing an additional 139,588 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 2,212.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 3,385 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,482,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 835,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $65,656,000 after purchasing an additional 34,138 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $57.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $41.37 and a one year high of $61.28. The company has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $57.09 and a 200-day moving average of $73.45.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WRB. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $103.00 target price on the stock. Barclays started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.70.

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.