W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its W.R. Berkley stake by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 30,842 shares and ending with 182,740 shares valued at about $12.8 million.
• Recent analyst activity has been mixed to cautious: several firms adjusted ratings and price targets, and MarketBeat shows an overall consensus rating of “Reduce” with a target price of $68.81.
• W.R. Berkley reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 versus $1.13 expected and revenue of $3.69 billion versus $3.18 billion expected.

Royce & Associates LP decreased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,740 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 30,842 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $12,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 756 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,328 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WRB. Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Barclays upped their price target on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $68.00 in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $68.81.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $65.32 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. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $66.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.34.

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

Insider Transactions at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui purchased 147,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.63 per share, for a total transaction of $10,529,610.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,522,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,191,950,486.62. This represents a 0.25% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 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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