Tobam Sells 45,975 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Tobam trimmed its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 61.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,440 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 45,975 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $2,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WRB. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings 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 valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in W.R. Berkley by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $69.60 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.16. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.55 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.37.

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

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus dropped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 20,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.99 per share, with a total value of $1,439,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 56,576,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,072,953,177.48. This trade represents a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 7,750,064 shares of company stock worth $532,603,787 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.00% of the company’s stock.

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.