Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) Stake Boosted by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 41.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKL. Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Markel Group during the 4th quarter valued at $54,173,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in Markel Group by 3,729.3% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 14,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,366,000 after buying an additional 14,507 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Markel Group by 167.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,687,000 after buying an additional 14,022 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Markel Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 329,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $516,391,000 after buying an additional 13,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 156,757.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,980 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,223,000 after acquiring an additional 10,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MKL. TD Cowen downgraded Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $1,986.00 to $1,836.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Markel Group from $1,700.00 to $1,675.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,626.83.

Markel Group Price Performance

Shares of Markel Group stock opened at $1,804.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,745.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,636.77. Markel Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,342.66 and a fifty-two week high of $1,842.48. 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 cap of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.78.

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 the consensus estimate of $21.97 by ($4.63). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Markel Group had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 10.86%. Analysts expect that Markel Group Inc. will post 86.92 EPS for the current year.

Markel Group Company 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.