Woodline Partners LP Makes New $1.06 Million Investment in W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,079 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,058,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 107.3% in the 4th 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 period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley by 79.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.64.

W. R. Berkley Stock Performance

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $73.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.82. 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 12 month low of $51.17 and a 12 month high of $76.38.

W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Research analysts expect that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

About W. R. Berkley

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.