Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

MKL has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Markel Group from $1,590.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Markel Group from $1,700.00 to $1,675.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,651.83.

Markel Group Stock Performance

NYSE MKL traded up $9.38 on Wednesday, reaching $1,785.11. 48,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Markel Group has a one year low of $1,342.66 and a one year high of $1,809.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,609.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,589.29.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $17.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $21.97 by ($4.63). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Markel Group had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 10.86%. Analysts expect that Markel Group will post 88.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 36.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 214,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $326,124,000 after purchasing an additional 57,528 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 3,729.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 14,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,366,000 after purchasing an additional 14,507 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 329,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $516,391,000 after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 15.4% during the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 85,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,320,000 after purchasing an additional 11,357 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 156,757.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,223,000 after purchasing an additional 10,973 shares during the period. 77.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Markel Group

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.