W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Raised to $75.00

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $72.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.35% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.50.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:WRB traded down $0.89 on Monday, reaching $71.19. 114,742 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,219,408. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.22. W.R. Berkley has a 12 month low of $62.87 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.