Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui Buys 230,000 Shares of W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) Stock

W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 230,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $69.19 per share, for a total transaction of $15,913,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 52,726,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,648,146,811.76. This represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major 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 Price Performance

NYSE WRB traded up $1.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.21. 1,918,681 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,253,268. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.86 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.25.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI set a $69.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 399.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 1st quarter valued at $2,386,000. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.