Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 13,955 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 146,772 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13,955 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.32% of RLI worth $19,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RLI. Maren Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of RLI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,149,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $52,592,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in RLI by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 203,046 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,029,000 after buying an additional 80,451 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in RLI during the 4th quarter valued at $9,424,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in RLI by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 89,106 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,109,000 after buying an additional 46,031 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of RLI from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of RLI in a research report on Friday, June 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of RLI from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of RLI from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.75.

RLI Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:RLI opened at $138.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.67. RLI Corp. has a 12 month low of $125.77 and a 12 month high of $149.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.41.

RLI (NYSE:RLI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. RLI had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The firm had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $460.05 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that RLI Corp. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from RLI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. RLI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.02%.

About RLI

RLI Corp., an insurance holding company, underwrites property and casualty insurance. Its Casualty segment provides commercial and personal coverage products; and general liability products, such as coverage for third-party liability of commercial insureds, including manufacturers, contractors, apartments, and mercantile.