Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Arch Capital Group Ltd. by 723.6%, acquiring a total of 67,232 shares valued at over $6 million during the first quarter.
• Insider selling included CFO Francois Morin, who sold 12,630 shares for approximately $1.19 million, representing a 4.4% decrease in his ownership.
• Arch Capital Group posted earnings per share of $2.58 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and demonstrating continued strong performance.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL - Free Report) by 723.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 59,069 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Arch Capital Group were worth $6,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ACGL. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Arch Capital Group by 663.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,462,382 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $227,401,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,782 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Arch Capital Group in the fourth quarter valued at $151,342,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 10,817.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 806,181 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $775,380,000 after buying an additional 798,797 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Arch Capital Group by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,576,223 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $330,264,000 after acquiring an additional 522,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Arch Capital Group by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,098,619 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $193,807,000 after buying an additional 498,426 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACGL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective (down from $113.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Arch Capital Group to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Arch Capital Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.40.

Arch Capital Group Stock Performance

ACGL stock traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.00. 2,846,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,924,728. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.57. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $82.49 and a 12 month high of $116.47.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.28. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 19.49%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arch Capital Group

In other Arch Capital Group news, insider John M. Pasquesi sold 75,060 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.01, for a total value of $7,056,390.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 579,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,452,284.18. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Louis T. Petrillo sold 16,650 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total value of $1,573,924.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 140,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,236,374.19. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,340 shares of company stock worth $9,824,861 over the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.