California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% in Q3, selling 57,719 shares and ending the period with 1,119,552 shares (0.29%) worth about $85.78 million.
• Sumitomo Insurance purchased 112,176 shares at roughly $72.20, raising its direct holdings to 58,780,450 shares; insiders now own 23% of the company and bought about 9.93 million shares (~$688 million) in the past three months.
• Analysts show a mixed view with an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.67 (4 Buy, 9 Hold, 4 Sell).

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,119,552 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 57,719 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.29% of W.R. Berkley worth $85,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WRB. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of W.R. Berkley from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $76.00) on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $80.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.67.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:WRB opened at $68.51 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $62.63 and a 1 year high of $78.96. The company has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $69.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.08.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is currently 8.09%.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.20 per share, with a total value of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 9,933,862 shares of company stock valued at $688,134,108 in the last three months. Insiders own 23.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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