Erste Asset Management GmbH Sells 53,939 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Erste Asset Management GmbH lowered its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 53,939 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $5,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,496,000 after buying an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $401,607,000 after acquiring an additional 242,546 shares during the period. American Trust bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the second quarter valued at about $1,847,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,762,000. 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 purchased 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 9,675,686 shares of company stock valued at $669,388,681. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Up 0.1%

WRB opened at $71.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.63 and its 200 day moving average is $72.20. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $60.68 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRB shares. Truist Financial set a $80.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $69.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Company 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.