W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,723,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 238,035 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of W.R. Berkley worth $2,813,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $599,271,000 after buying an additional 289,172 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 577,873 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $367,921,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 4.6% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,738,612 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $201,206,000 after purchasing an additional 121,045 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $70.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $78.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.17. 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). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WRB. UBS Group set a $71.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Argus cut 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sumitomo Insurance (a >10% holder) bought a total of 566,386 WRB shares across Feb. 17–18 (~285,000 on Feb. 18 at $70.64 and ~281,386 on Feb. 17 at $71.19), increasing its stake by ~0.5% and signaling confidence from a large strategic investor. The purchases total about $40 million and were disclosed to the SEC. SEC Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: MarketWatch notes that WRB underperformed peers on Tuesday despite daily gains, suggesting sector dynamics or relative valuation shifts may be influencing short‑term flows. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research trimmed multiple quarterly and full‑year EPS forecasts (Q1–Q3 2026, Q1–Q3 2027 and FY2026–FY2028), lowering FY2026 to $4.56 and FY2027 to $4.78 from prior levels — a material downward revision cadence that could pressure forward guidance expectations and investor sentiment.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 285,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $20,132,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,163,038 shares in the company, valued at $4,037,997,004.32. This represents a 0.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired 8,316,450 shares of company stock worth $572,768,056 in the last quarter. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.