Diversify Wealth Management LLC Has $937,000 Stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 83.0% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,180,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,757,000 after purchasing an additional 535,471 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 58.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,333,418 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $75,645,000 after purchasing an additional 490,669 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 47.1% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 987,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,039,000 after purchasing an additional 316,269 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 190.4% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 477,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,254,000 after purchasing an additional 313,234 shares during the period. Finally, Berkley W R Corp bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,138,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $58.02 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $44.24 and a one year high of $61.96. The company has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.66. 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 (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America lifted 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.08.

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.