AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Stock Position Raised by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,082 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.38% of AXIS Capital worth $21,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,785,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $52,845,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,503,000. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in AXIS Capital by 1,132.7% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 95,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 87,729 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,168,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,821 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,842.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Michael Millegan purchased 1,400 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.49 per share, with a total value of $100,086.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,016 shares in the company, valued at $644,553.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director W Marston Becker purchased 3,025 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,821 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,842.18. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,425 shares of company stock worth $444,351 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.83.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 1.1 %

AXIS Capital stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.89. The company had a trading volume of 25,926 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,917. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.05 and its 200-day moving average is $64.54. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $52.90 and a fifty-two week high of $74.82.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 19.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.91%.

About AXIS Capital

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various specialty insurance and reinsurance products in Bermuda, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment offers professional insurance products that cover directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions, employment practices, fiduciary, crime, professional indemnity, medical malpractice, and other financial insurance related coverages for commercial enterprises, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and other professional service providers; and property insurance products for commercial buildings, residential premises, construction projects, property in transit, onshore renewable energy installations, and physical damage and business interruption following an act of terrorism.