UBS Group AG Buys 906,100 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in W.R. Berkley by 34.9% in Q4, acquiring 906,100 shares to own 3,505,867 shares (about 0.92%) valued at $245.8 million.
• Major insider activity includes Sumitomo Insurance buying 345,000 shares for $24.37 million, and insiders purchasing 3,122,015 shares in the last 90 days; institutional ownership is ~68.8% and insiders own ~23%.
• W.R. Berkley beat Q1 estimates with $1.30 EPS on $3.69B revenue, has a $25.1B market cap and a 0.5% dividend yield, while analysts' consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $68.81.

UBS Group AG raised its stake in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,505,867 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 906,100 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.92% of W.R. Berkley worth $245,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,033,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,596,795,000 after purchasing an additional 309,828 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 106,859 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,258 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 392.8% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 11,760 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,722 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in W.R. Berkley by 182.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 41,179 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,887,000 after buying an additional 26,582 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 345,000 shares of W.R. Berkley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $24,374,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 57,508,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,062,942,884.70. This represents a 0.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have acquired 3,122,015 shares of company stock valued at $219,761,133 over the last 90 days. 23.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $67.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $67.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 12 month low of $63.67 and a 12 month high of $78.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.37.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 12.64%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. W.R. Berkley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRB. Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Argus lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of W.R. Berkley from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $68.81.

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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