** Shares of insurance provider Markel Group fall as much as 1.7% to $1752.88

** Brokerage TD Cowen downgrades stock to "hold" from "buy", citing lower insurance premiums and poor reinsurance performance

** Also notes reduced earnings in Ventures, and lower than expected profit from Nephila segments, lowers PT to $1,836 from $1,986

** Brokerage says it prefers carriers such as AXIS Capital

and Arch Capital Group on their better operating outlooks even as MKL has significant re-deployable capital and may increase share repurchases

** MKL had reported missed Q3 results on Saturday

** Three of ten brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, and seven "hold"; with a median PT of $1,675

** Up to Friday's close, stock had risen 26% YTD

(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru)

((Neil.JKanatt@thomsonreuters.com;))