Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 20,000 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,072,953,177.48. The trade was a 0.04% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $69.13 and a 200 day moving average of $72.14. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). 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%. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $15,496,000 after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after buying an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. American Trust bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,847,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 18,022 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.