W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund owned 0.05% of W.R. Berkley worth $15,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth $367,921,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601,230 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during 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 during the period. 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 worth $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,617,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 325,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $68.03 per share, for a total transaction of $22,109,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 52,496,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,571,337,167.12. This represents a 0.62% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 4,454,916 shares of company stock valued at $309,561,870 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Key W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) has been buying sizeable blocks of WRB across Jan. 12–16, repeatedly increasing its stake with purchases at prices around the high-$60s; the purchases represent multi‑million dollar commitments and act as an insider vote of confidence. Mitsui Sumitomo buys Berkley (WRB) shares
• Neutral Sentiment: The purchases are all formally disclosed in SEC ownership filings, which confirm the trades and updated stake size but show each increase is under 1% individually; transparency reduces uncertainty but the moves are gradual. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its price target modestly while keeping an overweight stance, reflecting slightly lower upside from that analyst but continued support; other shops remain mixed, leaving consensus near the low‑$70s. Cantor Fitzgerald lowers expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals and analyst mix are headwinds: WRB is trading below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages (~$72), and several analysts carry hold/underweight views or lower targets, which can cap near‑term upside despite insider buying.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $67.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.39. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $56.86 and a 12 month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

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.