W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,220,936 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 262,187 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.11% of W.R. Berkley worth $323,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Evercore set a $69.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $69.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.70 and a 200 day moving average of $72.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $60.68 and a twelve month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business 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 18.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. The trade was a 0.19% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.