50,526,511 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Purchased by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 50,526,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,542,919,000. W.R. Berkley comprises approximately 100.0% of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. Ltd. owned about 13.30% of W.R. Berkley at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 360 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $68.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.32. The stock has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.30. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.87 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 12.64%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This is a boost from W.R. Berkley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $71.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.31.

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.