Select Equity Group L.P. Takes $357.51 Million Position in Markel Group Inc. $MKL

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. has acquired 191,223 shares of Markel Group Inc., valued at approximately $357.5 million, making Markel Group approximately 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Markel Group has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Argus, indicating positive sentiment from analysts regarding the stock's future performance.
• Markel Group reported earnings of $25.46 per share, surpassing estimates, with a revenue increase of 24.3% year-over-year, totaling $4.82 billion for the last quarter.

Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 191,223 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $357,512,000. Markel Group comprises about 1.5% of Select Equity Group L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Select Equity Group L.P. owned about 1.51% of Markel Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Markel Group by 210,656.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 115,916 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $216,718,000 after purchasing an additional 115,861 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Markel Group by 49.5% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 108,019 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $201,953,000 after purchasing an additional 35,786 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Markel Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,796,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its stake in Markel Group by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 146,076 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $273,105,000 after buying an additional 24,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Markel Group by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 68,636 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $128,323,000 after buying an additional 17,413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.12% of the company's stock.

Markel Group Stock Performance

Shares of MKL traded down $7.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,956.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,296. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59. Markel Group Inc. has a one year low of $1,521.25 and a one year high of $2,075.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $1,968.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,906.17.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $25.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $24.74 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $4.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.96 billion. Markel Group had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 13.39%.Markel Group's quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $18.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Markel Group Inc. will post 96.25 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Argus raised Markel Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Markel Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $1,820.33.

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.