Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 8,403 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,403 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $7,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 108,810 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,312,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,284,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 13,245 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The stock has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.23 and a 200 day moving average of $59.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.