AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Stock Holdings Boosted by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 148,650 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $13,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $638,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 52,156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,152,000 after acquiring an additional 9,148 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the third quarter worth $2,511,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 53.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 17,082 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,921,000 after purchasing an additional 43,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXS opened at $95.23 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. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.32. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $101.42.

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

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.