Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes $5.53 Million Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 62,435 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,533,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AXIS Capital as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 371,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,070,000 after buying an additional 121,437 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $638,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $453,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,921,000 after buying an additional 43,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,613,715. This trade represents a 32.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $95.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.00. 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 Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $98.11.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.25%.

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.