W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Price Target Lowered to $66.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $66.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on WRB. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.57.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB stock opened at $67.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.06. 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 has a 1 year low of $58.07 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.39.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that W.R. Berkley will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 368,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.96 per share, for a total transaction of $24,641,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 54,589,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,655,313,187.84. This represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 5,782,916 shares of company stock valued at $399,073,250. 23.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WRB. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 172,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,108,000 after buying an additional 37,129 shares in the last quarter. J.M. Arbour LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth about $781,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 50,121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,514,000 after buying an additional 10,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 24,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after buying an additional 3,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting W.R. Berkley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company reported full‑year growth, strong underwriting and record investment income and highlighted operating improvement in the quarter — supports earnings durability. W. R. Berkley Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management is returning meaningful capital to shareholders — announced ~$971M returned (buybacks/dividends), a direct positive for EPS and shareholder value. W R Berkley signals increased technology investments and affirms sub-30% expense ratio target while returning $971M to shareholders
• Positive Sentiment: Insiders/major shareholders bought material stock this week (reports of ~ $22.3M and $24.6M purchases), which can signal confidence from insiders and underpin the share price. W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Buys $22,258,500.00 in Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly revenue was roughly in line (~$3.18B, +2.1% y/y) while EPS missed by $0.01 (reported $1.13 vs. $1.14 estimate) — small miss reduces upside but is not a large operational setback. W.R. Berkley Q4 Earnings Miss Estimate, Revenues Up Y/Y
• Neutral Sentiment: Management signaled continued investment in technology and reiterated a sub‑30% expense ratio target — suggests focus on long‑term efficiency but may keep near‑term expense sensitivity. W. R. Berkley Corporation (WRB) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side analysts lowered price targets (Jefferies, Wells Fargo, Mizuho, Bank of America) and maintained Hold/Neutral ratings — reduces near‑term analyst upside and may cap the stock. Analyst price target coverage (Benzinga links)
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary frames the stock as “structurally expensive” and notes slowing growth, which supports cautious analyst stances and could limit multiple expansion. W.R. Berkley: Solid Q4 But Structurally Expensive

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.