Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 242,546 Shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation $WRB

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE:WRB) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,241,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 242,546 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in W.R. Berkley were worth $401,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at $367,921,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 6,503.1% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,561,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,601,230 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W.R. Berkley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,961,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,715,583,000 after purchasing an additional 625,685 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of W.R. Berkley by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,274,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $534,438,000 after purchasing an additional 577,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of W.R. Berkley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,617,000. Institutional investors own 68.82% of the company’s stock.

W.R. Berkley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting W.R. Berkley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large, repeated insider purchases by major shareholder Sumitomo (Mitsui) over several days — totaling hundreds of thousands of shares and adding materially to a >10% stake — signal strong insider confidence and likely underpin buying interest. SEC Filing: Sumitomo/Mitsui buys WRB shares
• Positive Sentiment: Company commentary and updates highlighted record profitability, a $971M program of buybacks/dividends and a sub?30% expense?ratio target alongside increased technology investment — supportive for EPS and capital returns over time. W. R. Berkley signals increased technology investments and affirms sub?30% expense ratio target while returning $971M to shareholders
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results showed a very small EPS miss ($1.13 vs. $1.14 consensus) with revenue roughly in line — not a material shock but it removes upside surprise from the quarter. W R Berkley (WRB) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell?side firms cut price targets (Jefferies, Mizuho, Wells Fargo, Bank of America) and the consensus analyst rating sits at “Reduce”, applying downward pressure and limiting near?term upside. WRB Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag slowing growth and valuation concerns despite solid underwriting — trimmed targets to the mid?$60s raise the risk of further multiple compression if results do not accelerate. W. R. Berkley: Solid Underwriting but Slowing Growth and Limited Upside Justify Neutral (Hold) Rating

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.R. Berkley news, major shareholder Sumitomo Insurance Co L. Mitsui acquired 370,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were 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 directly owned 54,959,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,133,933.28. This represents a 0.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders purchased a total of 7,296,847 shares of company stock worth $501,460,875 over the last 90 days. 23.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WRB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of W.R. Berkley from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on W.R. Berkley from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price target on W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of W.R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.R. Berkley presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $70.43.

W.R. Berkley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of W.R. Berkley stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.39. 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 12-month low of $58.07 and a 12-month high of $78.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $70.00 and its 200-day moving average is $72.02.

W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). W.R. Berkley had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. W.R. Berkley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that W.R. Berkley Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.R. Berkley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. W.R. Berkley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.09%.

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.