Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $1.91 Million Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 682.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,791 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $71.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.40 and a 200-day moving average of $72.19. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $60.20 and a one year high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $27.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus decreased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 160,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.80 per share, with a total value of $11,369,205.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,668,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,938,296. This trade represents a 0.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired 8,822,032 shares of company stock worth $608,511,512 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

About W.R. Berkley

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.