Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 657,558 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,711,425 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 657,558 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.98% of W.R. Berkley worth $284,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WRB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus dropped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $69.93 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $60.68 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.35. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.21.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders bought 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.30% 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.