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

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) by 196.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthCollab LLC increased 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 buying an additional 238 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Arch Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Arch Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Arch Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased 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 buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ ACGL opened at $98.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.07. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a one year low of $82.44 and a one year high of $103.39.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David Gansberg sold 5,907 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $569,257.59. Following the transaction, the insider owned 336,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,434,190.83. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nicolas Papadopoulo sold 21,930 shares of Arch Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.31, for a total transaction of $2,112,078.30. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 78,267 shares of company stock worth $7,291,637 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ACGL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arch Capital Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $114.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Arch Capital Group from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.