Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases Shares of 530,000 Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 530,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,025,000. Axis Capital comprises about 0.6% of Alberta Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.68% of Axis Capital at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smithfield Trust Co increased its holdings in Axis Capital by 94.0% in the second quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 1,542.9% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Axis Capital by 145.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXS. UBS Group boosted their price target on Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Axis Capital in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Axis Capital from $125.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.4%

Axis Capital stock opened at $102.26 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $83.90 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.07.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $184.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 16.08%.Axis Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

In other news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. The trade was a 20.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,005 shares of company stock valued at $976,584 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Axis Capital

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.