W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Major Shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Acquires 237,734 Shares

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 237,734 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $69.35 per share, with a total value of $16,486,852.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 50,764,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,520,500,390.75. This trade represents a 0.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of WRB traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,113,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,641,395. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.97 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $26.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.48.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 50,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.8% during 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 in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 191.1% in the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 847 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 70.8% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 17,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 18,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WRB shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Truist Financial set a $84.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho set a $67.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.93.

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.