9,658 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Bought by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WRB. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven 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 a consensus price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB stock opened at $62.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.