Pensionfund Sabic Acquires Shares of 17,850 W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the insider 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 8,868,939 shares of company stock worth $613,578,412 in the last three months. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.8%

WRB opened at $65.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.16 and its 200-day moving average is $71.84. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $62.63 and a 1-year 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 company 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 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

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.