Royal Bank of Canada Increases Stock Position in Markel Group Inc. $MKL

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its Markel Group stake by 1.6% in the first quarter, owning 42,729 shares valued at approximately $81.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 77.12% of Markel’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: five analysts rate Markel a Hold and one rates it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $2,025.
• Markel reported quarterly EPS of negative $18.90, missing expectations of $26.38, while revenue of $3.55 billion also fell short of estimates. Shares opened at $1,882, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,729 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.34% of Markel Group worth $81,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its position in Markel Group by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 415,160 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $892,496,000 after buying an additional 41,632 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Markel Group by 75.9% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 336,369 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $671,850,000 after acquiring an additional 145,146 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Markel Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 304,400 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $581,818,000 after acquiring an additional 6,160 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Markel Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 204,861 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $440,379,000 after acquiring an additional 23,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 153,099 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $292,627,000 after acquiring an additional 8,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Markel Group from $2,100.00 to $1,950.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Markel Group in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Markel Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Markel Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $2,025.00.

Markel Group Stock Performance

Shares of Markel Group stock opened at $1,882.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. Markel Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,719.41 and a 1 year high of $2,207.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $1,902.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,944.19. The firm has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.66.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The insurance provider reported ($18.90) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $26.38 by ($45.28). The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. Markel Group had a return on equity of 7.16% and a net margin of 13.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Markel Group Inc. will post 114.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Diane Leopold purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1,792.61 per share, for a total transaction of $179,261.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 2,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,925,815.90. The trade was a 4.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greta J. Harris sold 76 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,847.31, for a total value of $140,395.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,514.95. This represents a 10.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Markel Group Profile

Markel Group NYSE: MKL is a diversified insurance holding company best known for underwriting specialty insurance products. Founded in 1930 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company provides a wide range of commercial property and casualty coverages tailored to niche and hard-to-place risks. Its underwriting operations focus on specialty lines across multiple industries, delivering customized policy structures, program administration, and claims management services for complex exposures.

In addition to primary specialty insurance, Markel operates reinsurance and alternative risk-transfer activities and manages invested assets derived from underwriting float.

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