RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI) Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in RLI Corp. (NYSE:RLI - Free Report) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,014 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 18,292 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in RLI were worth $2,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of RLI in the fourth quarter valued at $80,476,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in RLI by 580.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 415,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 354,219 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. increased its stake in RLI by 138.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 296,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $48,876,000 after purchasing an additional 172,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in RLI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,024,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $168,907,000 after purchasing an additional 116,088 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLI during the fourth quarter worth about $17,854,000. 77.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of RLI from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point cut their price objective on RLI from $185.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on RLI from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised RLI from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLI has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.80.

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RLI Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of RLI stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $76.44. 478,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 357,846. The company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41 and a beta of 0.49. The business's 50 day moving average price is $76.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. RLI Corp. has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $91.15.

RLI (NYSE:RLI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLI Corp. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from RLI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. RLI's dividend payout ratio is 16.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLI

In related news, CEO Craig W. Kliethermes purchased 5,000 shares of RLI stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.35 per share, with a total value of $356,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 139,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,931,206.50. The trade was a 3.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey D. Fick acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $72.13 per share, for a total transaction of $144,260.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 142,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,246,859.93. The trade was a 1.43 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 11,200 shares of company stock worth $805,774 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.09% of the company's stock.

RLI Profile

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.