W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB Stock Holdings Cut by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,060,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 73,734 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $144,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in W.R. Berkley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in W.R. Berkley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 40.2% in the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in W.R. Berkley by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 68.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WRB shares. UBS Group set a $68.00 price target on shares of W.R. Berkley and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus downgraded W.R. Berkley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America cut their price objective on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded W.R. Berkley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $68.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.R. Berkley

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui bought 146,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $72.92 per share, for a total transaction of $10,646,320.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,668,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,278,090,540.08. This trade represents a 0.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 23.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.R. Berkley Price Performance

Shares of WRB opened at $64.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.33. W.R. Berkley Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $78.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.42 and its 200-day moving average is $69.27.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last issued its earnings results 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. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.