Axa S.A. Acquires 18,705 Shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Axa S.A. grew its holdings in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,130 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,705 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $4,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W. R. Berkley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in W. R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in W. R. Berkley by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W. R. Berkley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $72.75 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52-week low of $51.17 and a 52-week high of $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $27.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.07). W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Equities analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. W. R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WRB shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on W. R. Berkley from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on W. R. Berkley from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W. R. Berkley from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of W. R. Berkley from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.39.

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.