Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 24,030 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 24,030 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.59 per share, for a total transaction of $1,696,277.70. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 56,556,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,992,334,064.68. This trade represents a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

WRB opened at $71.72 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.55 and a 1-year high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $27.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.10. 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 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). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WRB. UBS Group set a $71.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

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.

Institutional Trading of W.R. Berkley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,496,000 after buying an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 737,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,161,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares in the last quarter. American Trust bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $1,847,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.