Insider Buying: W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Purchases $24,374,250.00 in Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui bought 345,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $24,374,250.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 57,508,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,062,942,884.70. The trade was a 0.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $71.08 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.19. The company has a market capitalization of $27.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $60.20 and a 1 year 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.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 7,601 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,088 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 85,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,162,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.