HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 1,648 Shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.56% of Markel Group worth $124,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKL. Saybrook Capital NC purchased a new position in shares of Markel Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $345,000. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Markel Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Markel Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $133,000. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 18,176 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,040,000 after buying an additional 4,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 370,522 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $639,606,000 after buying an additional 80,922 shares during the last quarter. 77.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Markel Group from $1,750.00 to $2,025.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen downgraded Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $1,986.00 to $1,836.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,685.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas Sinnickson Gayner bought 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2,008.01 per share, for a total transaction of $200,801.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,282,049.45. The trade was a 0.20 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven A. Markel sold 88 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,860.03, for a total value of $163,682.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 63,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,992,863.08. This represents a 0.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,034 shares of company stock worth $3,778,952 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Markel Group Price Performance

Markel Group stock opened at $1,816.88 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,833.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,705.36. Markel Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,417.65 and a 12 month high of $2,063.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $20.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $20.66 by ($0.15). Markel Group had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 16.34%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Markel Group Inc. will post 96.25 EPS for the current year.

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.