Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,450 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $15,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WRB. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 325,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $68.03 per share, with a total value of $22,109,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 52,496,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,571,337,167.12. This represents a 0.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have bought a total of 4,454,916 shares of company stock worth $309,561,870 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $67.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.39. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.86 and a 200-day moving average of $72.19. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.86 and a 52 week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is 7.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays reiterated 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $68.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

More W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) has been buying sizeable blocks of WRB across Jan. 12–16, repeatedly increasing its stake with purchases at prices around the high-$60s; the purchases represent multi‑million dollar commitments and act as an insider vote of confidence. Mitsui Sumitomo buys Berkley (WRB) shares
• Neutral Sentiment: The purchases are all formally disclosed in SEC ownership filings, which confirm the trades and updated stake size but show each increase is under 1% individually; transparency reduces uncertainty but the moves are gradual. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its price target modestly while keeping an overweight stance, reflecting slightly lower upside from that analyst but continued support; other shops remain mixed, leaving consensus near the low‑$70s. Cantor Fitzgerald lowers expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals and analyst mix are headwinds: WRB is trading below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages (~$72), and several analysts carry hold/underweight views or lower targets, which can cap near‑term upside despite insider buying.

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.