Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 71,214 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,127 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 71,214 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $17,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,230,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,381,000 after acquiring an additional 581,409 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,632,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $486,587,000 after buying an additional 207,233 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $6,026,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in AXIS Capital by 165.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 168,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,482,000 after buying an additional 104,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,767,000. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Stanley A. Galanski acquired 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.45 per share, with a total value of $409,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,647.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AXS stock opened at $65.45 on Friday. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $51.61 and a 12-month high of $66.74. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 10.34%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.18 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.33.

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.