8,650 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.60 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.17. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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 return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WRB. Mizuho reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. The trade was a 0.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 7,750,064 shares of company stock worth $532,603,787 over the last three months. Company insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

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.