Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Has $250,000 Stake in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in Markel Group by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 33,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,206,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Markel Group by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,247,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Markel Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Markel Group by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,736,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Markel Group by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 3,339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,764,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Markel Group

In other Markel Group news, Director Steven A. Markel sold 800 shares of Markel Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,856.80, for a total value of $1,485,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 64,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,446,902.40. The trade was a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas Sinnickson Gayner bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2,008.01 per share, with a total value of $200,801.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,282,049.45. This trade represents a 0.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,034 shares of company stock worth $3,778,952. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Markel Group Price Performance

Markel Group stock opened at $1,850.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.81. Markel Group Inc. has a one year low of $1,417.65 and a one year high of $2,063.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,837.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,708.04.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $20.51 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Markel Group Inc. will post 96.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Markel Group Profile

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.