AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Acquired by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 118.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,632,025 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $486,587,000 after acquiring an additional 207,233 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,976,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $167,808,000 after purchasing an additional 72,913 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,776,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,144,000 after purchasing an additional 16,031 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 89.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,230,822 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,381,000 after buying an additional 581,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 942,121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,107,000 after buying an additional 31,031 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Stanley A. Galanski bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.45 per share, with a total value of $409,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,647.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $65.39 on Monday. 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 cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.73.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.17 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.