Avanza Fonder AB Reduces Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Avanza Fonder AB reduced its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 943 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $72.34 on Thursday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.17 and a fifty-two week high of $76.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.85. The stock has a market cap of $27.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.64.

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.