21,210 Shares in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Acquired by Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC

Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,625,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 148.4% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 202,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $70.26 per share, with a total value of $14,192,520.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 49,211,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,630,763.88. The trade was a 0.41% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders bought 610,350 shares of company stock valued at $42,548,323 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WRB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $66.00 target price on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho set a $67.00 price target on W.R. Berkley and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on W.R. Berkley in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.93.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE WRB opened at $70.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.97 and a 1 year high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.56%.

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.