Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 3,382 Shares of Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Arch Capital Group by 14.7% in the first quarter, now holding 26,352 shares worth approximately $2.54 million.
• Insider activity has seen CFO Francois Morin and insider Louis T. Petrillo sell shares of the company, with Morin selling 12,630 shares and Petrillo selling 16,650 shares in recent transactions.
• Arch Capital Group beat analysts' expectations in its latest earnings report, posting earnings per share of $2.58 and revenue of $4.35 billion.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,352 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,382 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Arch Capital Group were worth $2,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 228,753 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $21,125,000 after purchasing an additional 31,591 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 14,282 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 8,614 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Arch Capital Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $554,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Arch Capital Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 616,723 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $56,954,000 after purchasing an additional 8,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Arch Capital Group

In other news, insider Louis T. Petrillo sold 16,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total transaction of $1,573,924.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 140,023 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,236,374.19. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Francois Morin sold 12,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.58, for a total value of $1,194,545.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 274,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,979,328.98. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,340 shares of company stock valued at $9,824,861 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Arch Capital Group from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective (down previously from $113.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Arch Capital Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Arch Capital Group to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $113.40.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ:ACGL traded up $1.94 on Friday, reaching $88.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,846,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,353. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $32.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50-day moving average price is $90.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.64. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $82.49 and a 1-year high of $116.47.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.29 billion. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 19.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arch Capital Group Profile

Arch Capital Group Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, reinsurance, and mortgage insurance products worldwide. The company's Insurance segment offers primary and excess casualty coverages; loss sensitive primary casualty insurance programs; directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions liability, employment practices and fiduciary liability, crime, professional indemnity, and other financial related coverages; medical professional and general liability insurance coverages; and workers' compensation and umbrella liability, as well as commercial automobile and inland marine products.