UBS Group AG Acquires 458,840 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

UBS Group AG raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 57.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,261,200 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 458,840 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned about 0.49% of W. R. Berkley worth $89,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,065,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $829,511,000 after acquiring an additional 529,817 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 4.6% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 6,819,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $432,946,000 after purchasing an additional 302,212 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,793,764 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $409,735,000 after purchasing an additional 154,468 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $213,635,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,001,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $127,097,000 after buying an additional 98,500 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on W. R. Berkley from $99.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.38.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $80.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.04. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $55.50 and a twelve month high of $89.18.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.51%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

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.