Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 12,117 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,117 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 9,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 35,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,491,000 after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 34,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,730 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 24,706 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.81.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought 2,183,798 shares of company stock valued at $155,530,321 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of WRB stock opened at $66.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.68 and a 200-day moving average of $69.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $63.67 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.33.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.