AlphaQuest LLC Sells 25,743 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC cut its W.R. Berkley position by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,743 shares and leaving it with 23,362 shares valued at about $1.64 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 versus the $1.13 consensus and revenue of $3.69 billion versus $3.18 billion expected. Revenue rose 1.3% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $68.81, while several firms recently lowered ratings or targets.

AlphaQuest LLC cut its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,362 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 25,743 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $1,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WRB. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter valued at $682,816,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,892,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $374,886,000 after buying an additional 1,224,363 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter worth $65,233,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,505,867 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $245,831,000 after buying an additional 906,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,711,425 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $284,350,000 after buying an additional 657,558 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $65.32 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.32 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12-month low of $63.67 and a 12-month high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WRB. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Argus cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $68.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 112,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,780,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have bought 405,176 shares of company stock worth $29,275,037. Company insiders own 23.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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