JT Stratford LLC Reduces Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

JT Stratford LLC cut its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 40.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,995 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,762 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maridea Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.4% during the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.3% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 5,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE WRB opened at $69.52 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.22. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $60.68 and a 52 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. The firm has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.35.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 is presently 8.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $69.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group set a $71.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. Four research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

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.