ProShare Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 211,252 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 15,695 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.23% of RLI worth $34,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RLI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of RLI during the 4th quarter worth $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of RLI by 580.4% during 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% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in RLI by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in RLI in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,854,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other RLI news, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $961,093.58. The trade was a 10.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company's stock.

RLI Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:RLI traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.48. 72,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 362,808. The stock has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.50 and a 12-month high of $91.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.79.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $36.73 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. RLI's payout ratio is presently 21.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLI has been the subject of several research reports. Compass Point downgraded RLI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RLI has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.60.

RLI Company 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.