Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $50.30 Million Stock Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 717,356 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,388 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $50,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its position in W.R. Berkley by 691.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WRB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought 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 approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 5,778,946 shares of company stock worth $399,026,238. 23.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $66.13 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a one year low of $63.67 and a one year high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

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.