This quarter, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACGL) by 22.7%, according to its recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Baker Tilly reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission in its recent Form 13F filing that at the end of the fourth quarter it had acquired 1,507 additional shares, which totaled 8,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock that were valued at $511,000.
In addition to offering coverage across a broad spectrum of products, Arch Capital Group is a major player in the insurance and reinsurance industry segment. Through its numerous business arms, such as Insurance, Reinsurance, Mortgage Corporate, and Other divisions, they offer coverage ranging from construction and national accounts to excess and surplus casualty, lender products, professional lines, and programs. Recently, insider trading has resulted in significant changes in the stock of Arch Capital Group. John M Pasquesi, who recently sold his Arch Capital Group shares worth over $1.76 million earlier in the year, sold his shares for over $1.76 million; meanwhile, Francois Morin had sold 15,814 shares for $67.61 per share on February 21st, which resulted in a total value of $1.07 million from this transaction.
Arch Capital Group is now reaffirming its position as a viable and profitable investment opportunity for institutional investors, who are looking to have a more significant exposure in the insurance sector, owing to Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC's latest investment. In addition to that, it is apparent that despite periodic share sales by insiders who indeed own a significant amount of stock in the company collectively since November last year, there have been virtually no significant disruptions to investors' confidence or concerns during the last three months. Transactions have taken place almost every week without fail without interruption and have been ongoing without fail for the last three months without cause to panic the investors. As a general rule, institutional investors are looking forward to this positive sign because they want to remain optimistic about the future of the firm in which it operates, based on the fact that there is a clear perception that it has demonstrated stability in the midst of volatility within the markets where it operates - thus reflecting the enormous trust that has been placed behind the fundamentals of the global insurance market.
Despite strong financial performance, Arch Capital Group has a positive outlook for its shareholders
In 2000, Arch Capital Group Ltd. was founded by a group of insurance professionals to specialize in a variety of insurance products including construction, national accounts, excess and surplus casualty, lender's products, professional lines and programs as well as other types of insurance. Among the five segments of the company are insurance, reinsurance, mortgage insurance and reinsurance (under the name Arch MI), corporate, and other.
On Tuesday, February 14th of this year, Arch Capital Group released its year-end financial statements revealing that it had posted an earnings per share result (EPS) of $2.14 for the fourth quarter of 2016. This result outperformed analysts' expectations by an impressive $0.80, and was an impressive increase over what was expected. Over the previous period, there was a net increase of 68%.
Shareholders of the company are becoming increasingly satisfied with the quarter's results as they are always looking forward to monetary gains as part of their own personal investment portfolios; hedge funds, meanwhile, are also buying up shares to balance their own portfolios in the quarter.
In March of this year, Trade Algo reported that hedge fund data collected by the site revealed Dupont Capital Management Corp was amongst some of the hedge funds that purchased a new position in Dupont Capital Management Corp for $110k USD during the fourth quarter of 2016, resulting in an additional outstanding interest interest. A number of funds, such as RBA Wealth Management LLC and Stephens Inc, made transactions regarding Arch Capital Group Stock, as well as altering their own portfolios as a result of this, leading to institutional investors holding a total of 88.78% of ACGL Shares as of today.
Based on ratings issued by mainstream press commentators who follow the industry, five analysts have assigned the stock a hold rating whilst seven have given it a buy rating, making it the subject of the term "Moderate Buy" by industry experts. Various recent price targets have led to this view, including those projected on February 15th by the Royal Bank of Canada to increase the price target to $74 per share, Keefe Bruyette & Woods to increase the price target to $75 the next day, and JMP Securities to raise their price target to match those projected by KBW the same day. There was a unanimous consensus for investors when Wells Fargo and Company raised their target price from $72 to $78 USD, indicating that everyone was on the same page.
As Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ: ACGL) opened on Friday at $68.94, trending toward its 52-week high of $72.28 (as it had done close to a year ago), there was an evident trend of investor optimism throughout the market.
This data provides us with a sense of Arch Capital Group's performance since its founding in 1982 as it meets the challenges of an ever-changing and dynamic financial marketplace that experiences constant flux in conjunction with the geopolitical factors influencing markets across the globe. In order to make an informed decision on whether to invest in this company, you should observe its movements with an open mind, as you should weigh up any associated risks and rewards with suitable caution before investing in it.
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