W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Purchases $2,745,600.00 in Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $68.64 per share, for a total transaction of $2,745,600.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 56,393,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,870,860,547.84. The trade was a 0.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.1%

WRB opened at $70.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.05. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Argus decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in W.R. Berkley by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 12,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 10,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 633,285 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,406,000 after buying an additional 9,076 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $506,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1,200.1% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 10,843 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 10,009 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

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.