3,960 Shares in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) Acquired by Longboard Asset Management LP

Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 103.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,093 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 59.1% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 22,754 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in W. R. Berkley by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 55,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $59.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.56. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WRB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.