W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Purchased by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,227 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,729 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 38,891 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 30,666 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,528 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 469,712 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,210,000 after purchasing an additional 22,997 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 60,445 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,537,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $71.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $76.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.