Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $9.61 Million Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lessened its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 58,305 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $9,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 14,759 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,852 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, with a total value of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired 7,632,068 shares of company stock worth $524,335,948 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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 dropped 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 reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $70.48 on Monday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.55 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.10.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.09 dividend. 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 8.09%.

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.