Key Points
- Sumitomo Insurance Co. Mitsui bought 235,000 W.R. Berkley shares on Jan. 15 at $68.90 each (totaling $16,191,500), boosting its stake to 52,961,504 shares—a 0.45% increase and part of repeated purchases in the high‑$60s.
- W.R. Berkley has a market cap of $25.79 billion and a PE of 14.25, recently topped quarterly EPS/revenue estimates (EPS $1.10 vs. $1.07; revenue $3.77B, +10.8% YoY), but is trading below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages near $72; analysts hold an average rating of “Hold” with a $73 average target.
- The company pays a modest quarterly dividend of $0.09 (annualized $0.36, ~0.5% yield, payout ratio ~7.6%), and institutional investors own about 68.82% of the stock.
W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co Mitsui acquired 235,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $68.90 per share, with a total value of $16,191,500.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 52,961,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,047,625.60. The trade was a 0.45% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
W.R. Berkley Price Performance
Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $67.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.19. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.86 and a twelve month high of $78.96.
W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 13.01%.The business's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.
W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.56%.
More W.R. Berkley News
Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) has been buying sizeable blocks of WRB across Jan. 12–16, repeatedly increasing its stake with purchases at prices around the high-$60s; the purchases represent multi‑million dollar commitments and act as an insider vote of confidence. Mitsui Sumitomo buys Berkley (WRB) shares
- Neutral Sentiment: The purchases are all formally disclosed in SEC ownership filings, which confirm the trades and updated stake size but show each increase is under 1% individually; transparency reduces uncertainty but the moves are gradual. SEC ownership filing
- Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its price target modestly while keeping an overweight stance, reflecting slightly lower upside from that analyst but continued support; other shops remain mixed, leaving consensus near the low‑$70s. Cantor Fitzgerald lowers expectations
- Negative Sentiment: Technicals and analyst mix are headwinds: WRB is trading below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages (~$72), and several analysts carry hold/underweight views or lower targets, which can cap near‑term upside despite insider buying.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,715,583,000 after buying an additional 625,685 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,921,114 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,143,256,000 after purchasing an additional 149,605 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at $682,816,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,189,248 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $599,271,000 after purchasing an additional 289,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WRB. Mizuho set a $69.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 target price on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.00.
Get Our Latest Analysis on W.R. Berkley
W.R. Berkley Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
