W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,695 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,234 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 138,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,697,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 64,063 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 125,735 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,817,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 92,555 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after acquiring an additional 5,065 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 1,111,830 shares of company stock valued at $79,622,596 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $67.59 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $63.67 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.33.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Company Profile

W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) is a publicly traded insurance holding company that underwrites and sells commercial property and casualty insurance, specialty insurance products, and reinsurance. Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, the company operates a portfolio of underwriting businesses that focus on niche and specialty commercial risks, offering coverage tailored to industries such as transportation, construction, professional services and other commercial lines.

The company’s product mix includes primary and excess casualty, property, professional liability, environmental and other specialty lines, together with treaty and facultative reinsurance solutions.