J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Watchman Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Markel Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 2,355 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Markel Group by 2.5% in the first quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Markel Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Markel Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Markel Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MKL shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Markel Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,986.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Markel Group from $1,435.00 to $1,450.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1,626.83.

Markel Group Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Markel Group stock opened at $1,565.51 on Thursday. Markel Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,295.65 and a 1 year high of $1,670.24. The firm has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,566.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,551.93.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $25.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $20.76 by $5.19. Markel Group had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 11.12%. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.86 billion. Analysts expect that Markel Group Inc. will post 89.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Markel Group

In related news, Director Lawrence A. Cunningham bought 20 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1,512.50 per share, for a total transaction of $30,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.