First Trust Advisors LP Buys 2,279,147 Shares of Arch Capital Group Ltd. $ACGL

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Arch Capital by 409.5% in Q3, buying 2,279,147 shares to own 2,835,648 shares (about 0.78%) valued at $257.3 million.
• Arch Capital beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.98 (vs. $2.34) and revenue of $4.93 billion, trades at a market cap of $34.59 billion with a P/E of 8.37, and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with an average target of $109.20.
• Insiders sold 260,096 shares worth $24.53 million in the last quarter, while institutional investors hold roughly 89.07% of the stock, including large new positions by Norges Bank and Cooke & Bieler.

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL - Free Report) by 409.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,835,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 2,279,147 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.78% of Arch Capital Group worth $257,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arch Capital Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $441,551,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in shares of Arch Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,856,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 289.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,368,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $124,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,919 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arch Capital Group by 109.3% during the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,045,262 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $95,171,000 after purchasing an additional 545,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Arch Capital Group by 99.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,029,515 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $93,408,000 after purchasing an additional 512,879 shares during the period. 89.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Arch Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ACGL stock opened at $97.21 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $96.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.95. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a one year low of $82.44 and a one year high of $103.39. The firm has a market cap of $34.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.64. Arch Capital Group had a return on equity of 16.73% and a net margin of 22.07%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 Maamoun Rajeh sold 47,430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.12, for a total transaction of $4,558,971.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 433,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,676,574.68. This represents a 9.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John M. Pasquesi sold 8,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.17, for a total transaction of $828,696.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 289,556 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,267,488.52. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 260,096 shares of company stock valued at $24,530,685 in the last quarter. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on ACGL shares. Roth Mkm set a $110.00 target price on Arch Capital Group and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Evercore set a $100.00 price target on shares of Arch Capital Group and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.20.

About Arch Capital Group

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.

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