W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stock Holdings Lifted by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 16.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 73,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,382,000 after purchasing an additional 4,336 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 70.8% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 7,131 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter valued at $323,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,493,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $73.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.42. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 12.32%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WRB. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $78.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.69.

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.