Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Has $75.83 Million Stock Holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,295,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 62,502 shares during the period. W. R. Berkley comprises about 2.2% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $75,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in W. R. Berkley by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,121,001 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $857,814,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947,830 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,321,958 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $642,294,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825,238 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,591,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $429,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,459,073 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,366,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,154,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $235,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118,641 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 1.2 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $62.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.39. The company has a market cap of $23.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.67. W. R. Berkley Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.49.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.18. W. R. Berkley had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 12.88%. Equities analysts anticipate that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. W. R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised W. R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on W. R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.