Pitcairn Co. Makes New $1.34 Million Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Pitcairn Co. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,893 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,340,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.13.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $70.30 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.49. W. R. Berkley Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $76.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.