W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 55.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,987 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the third 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 holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 108.1% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of W. R. Berkley stock opened at $60.74 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $45.75 and a 52 week high of $61.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.18. The firm has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

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.