Brighton Jones LLC Has $1.63 Million Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 123.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,887 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 563.2% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 49.9% in the second quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $59.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.35 and its 200 day moving average is $55.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 1-year low of $43.20 and a 1-year high of $61.96.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 21.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays assumed coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.08.

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.