Marshall Wace LLP Buys 16,574 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 773.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,716 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,574 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in RLI were worth $3,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of RLI by 580.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,445,000 after buying an additional 354,219 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. raised its position in RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in RLI by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $168,907,000 after buying an additional 116,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter valued at $17,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.89% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total transaction of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $961,093.58. This represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total transaction of $214,484.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,745,835.68. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut RLI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $78.60.

RLI Stock Performance

Shares of RLI traded down $0.72 on Thursday, reaching $73.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 47,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,767. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $76.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.49. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.50 and a 12-month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $442.20 million. RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. RLI's revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI's payout ratio is presently 19.74%.

RLI Profile

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile.