American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 118,020 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 681,137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,020 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $39,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,477,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $85,853,000 after purchasing an additional 444,986 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in W. R. Berkley by 49.0% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,035 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,214,000 after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 211.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,674,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493,758 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 72.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,574,000 after acquiring an additional 41,320 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of W. R. Berkley by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. R. Berkley Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WRB opened at $66.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $66.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.07.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (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 analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WRB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of W. R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.36.

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.