Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 40,000 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui purchased 40,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $69.38 per share, with a total value of $2,775,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 56,498,656 shares in the company, valued at $3,919,876,753.28. This trade represents a 0.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3%

WRB stock opened at $71.72 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $69.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.10.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its 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). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sumitomo Insurance increased its WRB stake with multiple purchases (roughly 98k shares across filings, ~ $6.8M at reported prices), nudging ownership above 56.5M shares — insider buying at these levels is a bullish signal for investor sentiment. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference; the transcript offers detail on underwriting, reserves and capital deployment — useful for assessing forward outlook but not an immediate catalyst by itself. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS maintained a Hold rating on WRB, signaling analysts are not yet upgrading despite insider buying — this may limit analyst-driven upside in the near term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent media pieces are re‑examining WRB’s valuation after a strong multi‑year run, which can increase short‑term volatility as investors debate upside vs. current multiples and consensus earnings growth. Read More. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $682,816,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter valued at $435,752,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601,230 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,886,000 after buying an additional 1,224,363 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,754,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $193,137,000 after buying an additional 1,140,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.