39,946 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 39,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,801,000. W.R. Berkley makes up about 1.9% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WRB. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 345,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $24,374,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 57,508,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,062,942,884.70. This trade represents a 0.60% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 2,183,798 shares of company stock worth $155,530,321 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.5%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $66.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.68 and a 200-day moving average of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.