W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 230,000 Shares

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.27 per share, with a total value of $16,162,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,526,511 shares in the company, valued at $3,550,497,927.97. This trade represents a 0.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $69.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.46. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 7.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at $734,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 153,560 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,766,000 after acquiring an additional 3,335 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $218,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $78.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $67.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.93.

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.