Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Arch Capital Group Ltd. $ACGL

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) by 196.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,898 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Arch Capital Group were worth $2,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACGL. WealthCollab LLC boosted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 410.3% in the 3rd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arch Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Arch Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Arch Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Arch Capital Group by 426.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 384 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arch Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACGL opened at $98.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $82.44 and a 12 month high of $103.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.07. The stock has a market cap of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.41.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.64. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 22.07% and a return on equity of 16.73%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arch Capital Group

In other Arch Capital Group news, CEO Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 21,930 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.31, for a total transaction of $2,112,078.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 871,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,943,218.14. The trade was a 2.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Brian S. Posner sold 3,000 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total transaction of $51,330.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,220. The trade was a 60.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,267 shares of company stock valued at $7,291,637. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ACGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $117.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $100.00 target price on shares of Arch Capital Group and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.93.

Arch Capital Group Company Profile

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL) is a Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance holding company that underwrites a broad range of property and casualty, mortgage, and specialty risk products. The company operates through a group of underwriting subsidiaries and platforms to provide insurance, reinsurance and related risk solutions tailored to commercial, institutional and individual clients.

Arch’s product mix includes treaty and facultative reinsurance, primary casualty and property insurance, mortgage insurance and other specialty lines.