Voya Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 20,785 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $367,921,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,601,230 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4,198.9% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 777,201 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,306,000 after purchasing an additional 759,122 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,715,583,000 after purchasing an additional 625,685 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after buying an additional 577,873 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $70.64 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.97 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.57. The company has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 currently 7.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 204,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $69.38 per share, for a total transaction of $14,177,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,805,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,386,155,978.44. The trade was a 0.42% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 610,350 shares of company stock worth $42,548,323 over the last ninety days. 23.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut W.R. Berkley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Truist Financial set a $84.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.93.

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.