W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 114,108 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,748 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $8,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Norges Bank acquired 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% 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 buying an additional 2,601,230 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,715,583,000 after buying an additional 625,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 577,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,617,000. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $69.60 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.19 and a 200-day moving average of $72.17. The firm has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.55 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $71.99 per share, for a total transaction of $1,439,800.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,576,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,072,953,177.48. The trade was a 0.04% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 7,750,064 shares of company stock valued at $532,603,787. 23.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.