W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Purchases 25,000 Shares

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 25,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.20 per share, with a total value of $1,755,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,418,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,960,589,651.20. The trade was a 0.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 1.4%

WRB opened at $70.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.04. The firm has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WRB shares. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $69.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,596,795,000 after acquiring an additional 309,828 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,143,256,000 after purchasing an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth approximately $682,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $599,271,000 after purchasing an additional 289,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after buying an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

About W.R. Berkley

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.