Pathstone Holdings LLC Has $2.09 Million Position in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 57.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,857 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,385 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $2,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in W. R. Berkley by 95.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 1.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 274,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,243,000 after buying an additional 4,291 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the first quarter worth $207,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 96.8% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,006 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in W. R. Berkley in the first quarter valued at $865,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $64.33 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 12-month low of $45.75 and a 12-month high of $64.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $58.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.67. The firm has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 11.96%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.22.

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.