W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB - Free Report) by 46.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 684,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 602,263 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.18% of W.R. Berkley worth $48,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the third quarter worth $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the third 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. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in W.R. Berkley in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In related news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 112,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.20 per share, for a total transaction of $8,099,107.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,780,450 shares in the company, valued at $4,243,948,490. This trade represents a 0.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have bought 2,321,794 shares of company stock worth $165,220,160 in the last quarter. 23.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WRB opened at $66.50 on Wednesday. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $67.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G 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, 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on WRB. Bank of America cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W.R. Berkley from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $74.00 to $66.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut W.R. Berkley from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus 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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