Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Sells 36,922 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management reduced its W.R. Berkley stake by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 36,922 shares and leaving it with 106,472 shares valued at about $7.47 million.
• W.R. Berkley reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 versus the $1.13 estimate and revenue of $3.69 billion versus $3.18 billion expected.
• Despite the earnings beat, Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.81, while shares recently traded down to $65.39.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,472 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 36,922 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $7,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WRB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 202,243 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,496,000 after acquiring an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $401,607,000 after purchasing an additional 242,546 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 18,022 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the third quarter worth $3,762,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% in the third quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 38,013 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WRB. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Brean Capital lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $68.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 112,176 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,243,948,490. This represents a 0.19% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 2,183,798 shares of company stock valued at $155,530,321 in the last three months. Insiders own 23.30% of the company's stock.

W.R. Berkley Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $65.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.89 and a 200-day moving average of $69.76. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52-week low of $63.67 and a 52-week high of $78.96. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.33.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

About W.R. Berkley

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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