Cooke & Bieler LP Reduces Position in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

Cooke & Bieler LP decreased its holdings in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,547 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.42% of Markel Group worth $93,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. SpiderRock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Markel Group by 199.4% in the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in shares of Markel Group by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 33,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,206,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Markel Group by 72.4% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 381 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Markel Group by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Markel Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKL shares. TD Cowen lowered shares of Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,986.00 to $1,836.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Markel Group from $1,750.00 to $2,025.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Markel Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,685.17.

Insider Transactions at Markel Group

In other news, Director Steven A. Markel sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,856.80, for a total transaction of $1,485,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 64,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,446,902.40. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas Sinnickson Gayner purchased 100 shares of Markel Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2,008.01 per share, for a total transaction of $200,801.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,282,049.45. This represents a 0.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,034 shares of company stock valued at $3,778,952. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Markel Group Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of MKL stock opened at $1,839.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,829.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,702.80. Markel Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,417.65 and a 1-year high of $2,063.68.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $20.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $20.66 by ($0.15). Markel Group had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 16.34%. On average, analysts predict that Markel Group Inc. will post 96.25 EPS for the current year.

Markel Group Company Profile

Markel Group Inc, a diverse holding company, engages in marketing and underwriting specialty insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The company offers general and professional liability, personal lines, marine and energy, specialty programs, and workers' compensation insurance products; and property coverages that include fire, allied lines, and other specialized property coverages, including catastrophe-exposed property risks, such as earthquake and wind.