Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 2,316 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,879 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 7,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $542,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 1.0% during the first quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,221 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $57.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $22.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $41.37 and a 52 week high of $61.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.45.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. W. R. Berkley’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley 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.