<div id="readability-page-1"><p>American Trust acquired a new stake in  W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 25,137 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,847,000.</p><ul><li>S&amp;P 500's surge to new highs: Bull trap hiding in plain sight?</li></ul><p>Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in  W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter.  Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of  W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period.  Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in  W.R. Berkley by 4.7% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter.  Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in  W.R. Berkley by 19.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,013 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period.  Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in  W.R. Berkley by 4.0% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,334 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own  68.82% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Wall Street Analyst Weigh In</h2><p>Several research firms have recently weighed in on WRB. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a &#34;hold&#34; rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays  restated an &#34;underweight&#34; rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group  reaffirmed a &#34;neutral&#34; rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings  reissued a &#34;buy (b)&#34; rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley  set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned  a Hold rating and two have assigned  a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of &#34;Hold&#34; and a consensus price target of $74.85.</p><ul><li>Don't Overlook Hidden Gem Kinsale As Rallies To New Highs</li></ul><p><b>Check Out Our Latest Report on W.R. Berkley</b></p><h2>W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.1%</h2><p>NYSE WRB opened at $69.27 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.37. </p><p>W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.W.R. Berkley's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share.  Equities analysts anticipate that  W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year. </p><h2>W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend</h2><p>The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio  is currently 7.56%. </p><h2>W.R. Berkley Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>W. R. Berkley Corporation, an insurance holding company, operates as a commercial lines writers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance &amp; Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment underwrites commercial insurance business, including excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines.</p><h2>See Also</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than W.R. Berkley</li><li>There Are Different Types of Stock To Invest In</li><li>Dave &amp; Buster’s Reversal Is in PLAY After Double-Bottom Breakout</li><li>Trading Stocks: RSI and Why it's Useful</li><li>3 Finance Stocks to Buy on Rising 10-Year Treasury Rates</li><li>What is the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) </li><li>Disney's $1 Billion Deal Brings Its Magic to OpenAI</li></ul><p><strong>Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB?</strong> Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report).</p><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPVdSQg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPVdSQg"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in W.R. Berkley Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider W.R. Berkley, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and W.R. Berkley wasn't on the list.</p><p>While W.R. Berkley currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

<p>American Trust acquired 25,137 shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation, valued at $1,847,000, in Q2. Other hedge funds also adjusted their positions. Analysts have mixed ratings on WRB, with a consensus 'Hold' rating and a $74.85 price target. WRB's Q3 earnings beat estimates with $1.10 EPS and $3.77 billion revenue. The company announced a $0.09 quarterly dividend, yielding 0.5% annually.</p>

American Trust Makes New Investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB