Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 1,313 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,313 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 60,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,637 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 267,013 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,626,000 after purchasing an additional 95,059 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,826 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,783,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,155,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $71.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.28. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $50.73 and a twelve month high of $76.38.

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

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Company 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.