AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Raises Holdings in Arch Capital Group Ltd. $ACGL

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,787 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Arch Capital Group were worth $6,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstay Capital Management LLC ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Arch Capital Group during the second quarter valued at $363,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new stake in Arch Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,856,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 632.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 14,992 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Arch Capital Group by 550.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 109,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,513,000 after buying an additional 93,067 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arch Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $371,000. 89.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John M. Pasquesi sold 203,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.90, for a total transaction of $19,143,017.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 351,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,992,328.40. This represents a 36.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Francois Morin sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.62, for a total value of $756,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 266,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,233,356.22. This trade represents a 2.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 220,666 shares of company stock worth $20,728,673. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Arch Capital Group Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ ACGL opened at $95.72 on Friday. Arch Capital Group Ltd. has a 1-year low of $82.44 and a 1-year high of $97.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ:ACGL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $1.01. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. Arch Capital Group had a net margin of 20.96% and a return on equity of 16.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Arch Capital Group Ltd. will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $100.00 price target on Arch Capital Group and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on Arch Capital Group and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Arch Capital Group from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Arch Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Arch Capital Group from $111.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.53.

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.