Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Buys 33,966 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 33,966 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $69.38 per share, with a total value of $2,356,561.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 56,532,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,922,233,314.36. This represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $71.72 on Friday. 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. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.55 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $69.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.10.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 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 is currently 8.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore set a $69.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $77.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $64.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 22,158 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,554,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 344.6% during the fourth quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 22,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17,340 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 21,122 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 8,925 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,689 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after buying an additional 11,870 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about W.R. Berkley

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.

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.