Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 2,729 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WRB. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 329.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 46,208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 35,460 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $85,853,000 after buying an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth $565,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,147,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 95,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 2.3 %

WRB opened at $63.27 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. As a group, research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

W. R. Berkley Profile

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.