27,062 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 27,062 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,828,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,972,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $263,326,000 after purchasing an additional 377,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,768,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $249,757,000 after purchasing an additional 129,801 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,904,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $192,512,000 after purchasing an additional 550,560 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $105,639,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at $95,040,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.56.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $1.76 on Friday, hitting $75.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,851,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,366,465. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.87 and a twelve month high of $79.26. The company has a market capitalization of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.23.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.46%.

W.R. Berkley Profile

W.R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company that provides commercial property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, and related services. Its offerings include coverage for businesses and professionals across areas such as property, casualty, workers’ compensation, transportation, and specialty risks.

Founded in 1967 by William R. Berkley, the company operates through a group of insurance businesses with expertise in specific markets and customer needs. Its operations serve customers in the United States and select international markets.

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