Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $43.99 Million Holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its W.R. Berkley stake by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 634,244 shares valued at about $43.99 million.
• W.R. Berkley’s latest quarterly earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $1.30 versus the $1.13 estimate and revenue of $3.69 billion, while analysts still hold a cautious stance overall with an average rating of “Reduce”.
• Insiders have been active buyers, including a recent purchase by Sumitomo Insurance, and insiders now own 23.3% of the company; the stock also pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 0.5%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 634,244 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 41,125 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.17% of W.R. Berkley worth $43,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 36,343 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,548,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,632,000 after buying an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Sun Financial Inc purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $412,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,233,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 38,723 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,715,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WRB shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of W.R. Berkley from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $68.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 345,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $24,374,250.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 57,508,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,062,942,884.70. This represents a 0.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 2,301,794 shares of company stock valued at $163,798,160. 23.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Down 1.3%

W.R. Berkley stock opened at $65.68 on Friday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $78.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.00. The company has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

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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