W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,220,936 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 262,187 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $323,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG 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. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $60.68 and a 1-year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders acquired 9,933,862 shares of company stock worth $688,134,108. Corporate insiders own 23.30% 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.