Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stake in Markel Group Inc. $MKL

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Markel Group Inc. (NYSE:MKL) by 64.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 7,070 shares during the quarter. Markel Group accounts for about 1.0% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Markel Group were worth $8,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Canerector Inc. grew its position in Markel Group by 191,036.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 10,703,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,458,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10,698,016 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,172,997 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,242,020,000 after purchasing an additional 5,184 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 547,188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,045,947,000 after purchasing an additional 9,496 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in Markel Group by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 415,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $892,496,000 after buying an additional 41,632 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Markel Group by 75.9% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 336,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,850,000 after purchasing an additional 145,146 shares during the period. 77.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Markel Group Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MKL opened at $1,766.35 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1,942.37 and its 200 day moving average is $2,018.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.67. Markel Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,719.41 and a 52-week high of $2,207.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Markel Group (NYSE:MKL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The insurance provider reported ($18.90) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $26.38 by ($45.28). Markel Group had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Markel Group Inc. will post 113.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKL shares. Brean Capital assumed coverage on Markel Group in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $2,100.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Markel Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research lowered Markel Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Markel Group from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Markel Group from $2,100.00 to $1,950.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Markel Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2,025.00.

Insider Activity at Markel Group

In related news, CEO Simon Wilson sold 100 shares of Markel Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,079.48, for a total value of $207,948.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397 shares in the company, valued at $4,984,513.56. The trade was a 4.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

About Markel Group

Markel Group (NYSE: MKL) is a diversified insurance holding company best known for underwriting specialty insurance products. Founded in 1930 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the company provides a wide range of commercial property and casualty coverages tailored to niche and hard-to-place risks. Its underwriting operations focus on specialty lines across multiple industries, delivering customized policy structures, program administration, and claims management services for complex exposures.

In addition to primary specialty insurance, Markel operates reinsurance and alternative risk-transfer activities and manages invested assets derived from underwriting float.