First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 173 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Markel Group by 36.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 214,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $326,124,000 after purchasing an additional 57,528 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Markel Group by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 85,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,320,000 after acquiring an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Markel Group by 156,757.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,223,000 after acquiring an additional 10,973 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Markel Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,596,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Markel Group by 52.2% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 22,341 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $35,202,000 after purchasing an additional 7,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MKL shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Markel Group from $1,435.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised Markel Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Markel Group from $1,700.00 to $1,675.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Markel Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,986.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Markel Group from $1,590.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,651.83.

Markel Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MKL opened at $1,550.53 on Tuesday. Markel Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $1,317.00 and a 52 week high of $1,670.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,566.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,570.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.73.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Markel Group Inc. will post 91.55 earnings per share 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.