Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 4,700 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $1,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1,787.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 2,642.2% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 2,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 2,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stanley A. Galanski purchased 7,000 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.45 per share, for a total transaction of $409,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,647.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.33.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXS stock opened at $60.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.80. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.71 and a 200-day moving average of $58.56.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $4.19. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 6.67%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 43.78%.

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.