AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. reduced its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,199 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,607 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $258,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 152,914 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in AXIS Capital by 235.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 165,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,664,000 after buying an additional 115,900 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 3.7% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.25.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $88.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $53.88 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.92. The firm has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.95.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 10.82% and a return on equity of 19.24%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.41%.

AXIS Capital Company 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.