Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Makes New $734,000 Investment in W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $734,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in W.R. Berkley by 8.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 16,450 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 242,546 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 133.5% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 31,520 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 18,022 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W.R. Berkley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,762,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 376.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 48,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 38,013 shares during the period. 68.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.R. Berkley Stock Performance

NYSE:WRB opened at $65.96 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.05. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a 52 week low of $63.67 and a 52 week high of $78.96.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. W.R. Berkley had a return on equity of 18.17% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. W.R. Berkley’s payout ratio is 8.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WRB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus reduced their price target on shares of W.R. Berkley from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of W.R. Berkley in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen lowered shares of W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $77.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on W.R. Berkley from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $68.75.

Insider Activity at W.R. Berkley

In other news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.07 per share, for a total transaction of $24,815,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 54,959,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This trade represents a 0.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,013,946 shares of company stock valued at $415,217,738 in the last three months. Insiders own 23.00% 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.