W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,784 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in 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 last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during 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 last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Four investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 147,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.63 per share, for a total transaction of $10,529,610.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 58,522,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,191,950,486.62. This represents a 0.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 9,675,686 shares of company stock valued at $669,388,681 over the last quarter. 23.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $73.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.35. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $60.68 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.24. 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 issued its 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). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.09%.

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.