Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $10.61 Million Stock Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 908.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 121,572 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $10,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 59.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 39,309 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 14,678 shares during the period. Berkley W R Corp bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,138,000. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,330,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 5.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 15,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday, July 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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 note on Thursday, June 13th. Barclays began coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.70.

W. R. Berkley Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WRB opened at $56.51 on Friday. W. R. Berkley Co. has a twelve month low of $41.37 and a twelve month high of $61.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.62. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.20.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.84 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.51%.

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.