AXQ Capital LP Has $1.13 Million Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

AXQ Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 264.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,757 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,703 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Argus dropped their target price 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. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired 8,822,032 shares of company stock worth $608,511,512 over the last three months. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of WRB opened at $70.97 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average price of $69.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.19. The stock has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $60.68 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

About W.R. Berkley

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.