AlphaQuest LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 52.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 25,743 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Brean Capital downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $68.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 405,176 shares of company stock worth $29,275,037. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE:WRB opened at $65.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $66.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.34.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. W.R. Berkley’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

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.