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 acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.99 per share, with a total value of $1,439,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 56,576,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,072,953,177.48. This represents a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB traded down $2.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.60. 2,749,211 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,383,080. The stock has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $69.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.11. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $59.55 and a one year high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 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 business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.09%.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,596,795,000 after buying an additional 309,828 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,143,256,000 after acquiring an additional 149,605 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at $682,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $599,271,000 after acquiring an additional 289,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.