TD Asset Management Inc Has $31.04 Million Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

TD Asset Management Inc cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 405,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 150,580 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $31,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,715,583,000 after purchasing an additional 625,685 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $599,271,000 after purchasing an additional 289,172 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the second 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $367,921,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 9,675,686 shares of company stock worth $669,388,681 over the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $60.68 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.20.

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

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

W.R. Berkley 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.