Strs Ohio Trims Stock Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Strs Ohio decreased its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 85.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,939 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 39,271 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% during the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,334 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 9.4% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 9.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 2,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large, repeated insider purchases by major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) over several days — totaling hundreds of thousands of shares and adding materially to a >10% stake — signal strong insider confidence and likely underpin buying interest. SEC Filing: Sumitomo/Mitsui buys WRB shares
• Positive Sentiment: Company commentary and updates highlighted record profitability, a $971M program of buybacks/dividends and a sub‑30% expense‑ratio target alongside increased technology investment — supportive for EPS and capital returns over time. W. R. Berkley signals increased technology investments and affirms sub‑30% expense ratio target while returning $971M to shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results showed a very small EPS miss ($1.13 vs. $1.14 consensus) with revenue roughly in line — not a material shock but it removes upside surprise from the quarter. W R Berkley (WRB) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell‑side firms cut price targets (Jefferies, Mizuho, Wells Fargo, Bank of America) and the consensus analyst rating sits at “Reduce”, applying downward pressure and limiting near‑term upside. WRB Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag slowing growth and valuation concerns despite solid underwriting — trimmed targets to the mid‑$60s raise the risk of further multiple compression if results do not accelerate. W. R. Berkley: Solid Underwriting but Slowing Growth and Limited Upside Justify Neutral (Hold) Rating

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 195,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $68.36 per share, for a total transaction of $13,330,200.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 56,103,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,835,230,816.60. This trade represents a 0.35% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 7,296,847 shares of company stock worth $501,460,875. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $68.56 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.07 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.99. The company has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 8.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WRB shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Friday, November 7th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $70.43.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.