Beazley (LON:BEZ) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Beazley plc (LON:BEZ - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 849.17 ($11.43) and traded as high as GBX 935 ($12.58). Beazley shares last traded at GBX 929.77 ($12.51), with a volume of 1,826,813 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Beazley in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a GBX 1,150 ($15.48) price target on the stock.

Beazley Stock Up 1.3%

The stock's 50-day moving average is GBX 898.75 and its 200 day moving average is GBX 853.01. The stock has a market capitalization of £7.25 billion, a PE ratio of 5.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68.

Beazley (LON:BEZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported GBX 137 ($1.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Beazley had a net margin of 22.82% and a return on equity of 32.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Beazley plc will post 101.6172507 EPS for the current year.

Beazley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a GBX 25 ($0.34) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Beazley's previous dividend of $14.20. This represents a dividend yield of 2.77%. Beazley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.76%.

Beazley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Beazley news, insider Adrian Cox sold 27,772 shares of Beazley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 902 ($12.14), for a total transaction of £250,503.44 ($337,151.33). 2.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Beazley

Beazley plc provides risk insurance and reinsurance solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. It operates through Cyber Risks, Digital, MAP Risks, Property Risks, and Specialty Risks segments. The Cyber Risk segment underwrites cyber and technology risks.