Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 41,125 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 634,244 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $43,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Maridea Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% in the 3rd 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. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% in the 3rd 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WRB. Truist Financial cut 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $24,374,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,508,038 shares in the company, valued at $4,062,942,884.70. This trade represents a 0.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 2,301,794 shares of company stock valued at $163,798,160. 23.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $65.68 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

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.