Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 281,011 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,021,949 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 281,011 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 2.42% of AXIS Capital worth $160,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,075,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $287,909,000 after acquiring an additional 152,914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $182,538,000 after acquiring an additional 213,559 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,625,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,371,000 after purchasing an additional 318,784 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,417,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,144,000 after purchasing an additional 157,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $111,015,000 after purchasing an additional 33,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.14.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AXS opened at $93.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.94. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $53.49 and a 1-year high of $94.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.83 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.41%.

AXIS Capital Profile

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.