Needham Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $7,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Markel Group during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its stake in Markel Group by 1,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 22 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Markel Group during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Markel Group by 833.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 28 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Markel Group during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 77.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $1,986.00 to $1,836.00 in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Markel Group from $1,590.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,626.83.

Markel Group Stock Performance

Shares of MKL stock traded down $1.60 on Tuesday, hitting $1,762.88. The company had a trading volume of 5,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,216. The firm has a market cap of $22.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,621.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,591.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Markel Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,342.66 and a twelve month high of $1,809.11.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $17.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $21.97 by ($4.63). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Markel Group had a return on equity of 10.86% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Markel Group Inc. will post 88.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.