W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 705.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,284 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $69.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.11. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid 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 was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 7,750,064 shares of company stock valued at $532,603,787. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

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.