Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 548,147 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,606 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $859,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its stake in Markel Group by 1,000.0% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 22 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Markel Group by 833.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 28 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Markel Group during the second quarter worth $45,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Markel Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Markel Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Markel Group from $1,700.00 to $1,675.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Markel Group from $1,435.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Markel Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Markel Group from $1,590.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,651.83.

Markel Group Trading Up 5.6 %

MKL stock opened at $1,646.17 on Thursday. Markel Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,317.00 and a 12-month high of $1,670.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1,568.10 and its 200 day moving average is $1,571.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $21.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $17.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $21.97 by ($4.63). Markel Group had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Markel Group Inc. will post 89.27 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.