Baxter Bros Inc. Acquires 10,091 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Baxter Bros Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,445 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,091 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $3,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.36.

W. R. Berkley Price Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $64.12 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.12 and a 200-day moving average of $59.95. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.