Wallington Asset Management LLC Sells 88,321 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Wallington Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 318,468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 88,321 shares during the quarter. W.R. Berkley makes up approximately 3.2% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of W.R. Berkley worth $24,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 12.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,242 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter worth about $509,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 179.2% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 41,552 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 26,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 234,573 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.32 per share, with a total value of $16,495,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,446,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,477,078,653.52. This trade represents a 0.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,489,923 shares of company stock worth $104,586,746. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

Key W.R. Berkley News

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sumitomo Insurance (Mitsui) bought a series of WRB blocks Dec. 23–29 totaling about 879,573 shares (~$62.0M), raising its stake to ~50.09M shares — steady, repeated buys by a >10% holder are a clear vote of confidence and likely support the stock. InsiderTrades: Sumitomo Buys
• Positive Sentiment: W.R. Berkley named Erin Rotz president of Berkley Fire & Marine (effective immediately). She brings 20+ years of inland marine and construction underwriting experience — a constructive operational hire for a specialty-insurance underwriter. Business Wire: Erin Rotz Appointment
• Neutral Sentiment: The company paid its quarterly dividend on Dec. 29 ($0.09/share; $0.36 annualized, ~0.5% yield). The payout is small and signals capital return continuity but is unlikely to be a major price driver. MarketBeat: Dividend & Insider Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed (consensus “Hold” with a ~$73.93 target). Institutional ownership is high (~69%), so incremental moves may be more influenced by large holders and underwriting fundamentals than retail flows. MarketBeat: Analyst & Institutional Data

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WRB opened at $70.76 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $67.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.93.

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.