Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Shares in Arch Capital Group Ltd. $ACGL

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group initiated a new position in Arch Capital Group, buying 68,005 shares worth about $6.52 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with several large investors recently adding to their stakes and institutions now holding 89.07% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts are broadly cautious on ACGL: the stock has a Hold consensus rating, with an average price target of $106.32, while the shares recently traded around $96.30.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 68,005 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,523,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 13,525,402 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,214,987,000 after buying an additional 171,693 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,190,927 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $743,168,000 after buying an additional 360,626 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 409.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,835,648 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $257,278,000 after buying an additional 2,279,147 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,738,518 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $248,466,000 after buying an additional 987,398 shares during the period. Finally, Marshfield Associates boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marshfield Associates now owns 2,724,635 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $247,206,000 after buying an additional 141,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arch Capital Group

In other Arch Capital Group news, Director Daniel Joseph Houston purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $94.08 per share, with a total value of $498,624.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $932,803.20. The trade was a 114.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 21,930 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 871,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $83,943,218.14. This trade represents a 2.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,837 shares of company stock valued at $2,766,946. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ACGL shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $102.00 to $101.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arch Capital Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $105.00 to $102.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Arch Capital Group from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.32.

Arch Capital Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACGL opened at $96.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.09. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 12 month low of $82.44 and a 12 month high of $103.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $33.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.35.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 24.64% and a return on equity of 17.61%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.