Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 18,199 Shares of RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 490,725 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,199 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.54% of RLI worth $80,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in RLI by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 203 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in RLI by 76.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLI by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,545 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of RLI by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLI by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,633 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 77.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on RLI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of RLI from $100.50 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point lowered their price target on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on RLI from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RLI in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLI currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In other news, Director Jordan W. Graham sold 1,500 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.77, for a total value of $112,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,854 shares in the company, valued at $961,093.58. This trade represents a 10.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Restrepo, Jr. sold 2,864 shares of RLI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.89, for a total value of $214,484.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,312 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,745,835.68. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774. Insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

RLI Stock Performance

NYSE RLI traded up $2.90 on Tuesday, hitting $75.33. 98,516 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,435. RLI Corp. has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $91.14. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $76.05 and its 200 day moving average is $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.64). RLI had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 19.53%. Research analysts anticipate that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. RLI's payout ratio is 16.00%.

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.