Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 235,000 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 235,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $68.90 per share, with a total value of $16,191,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 52,961,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,649,047,625.60. The trade was a 0.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.86 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.86 and a 200-day moving average of $72.18.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 is currently 7.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $682,816,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $367,921,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $374,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,711,425 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $284,350,000 after buying an additional 657,558 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Mizuho set a $69.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Trending Headlines about W.R. Berkley

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.

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.