W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Holdings Lifted by Dakota Wealth Management

Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,041 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $6,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 8,822,032 shares of company stock worth $608,511,512. 23.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WRB shares. Evercore set a $69.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Argus dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Mizuho dropped 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.20. 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 $60.68 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

W.R. Berkley 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.