W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Shares Bought by Toroso Investments LLC

Toroso Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 14.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,141 shares during the quarter. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 7,615 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 120.9% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,086 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,614 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 4,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 1st quarter valued at $200,000. 66.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.00.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.7 %

WRB stock opened at $64.12 on Monday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $55.50 and a one year high of $76.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.80 and a 200-day moving average of $60.58.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 22nd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.67%.

W. R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writer in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including premises operations, commercial automobile, property, products liability, and general and professional liability lines.