First Trust Advisors LP Sells 155,886 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 10.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,291,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 155,886 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.68% of Axis Capital worth $123,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Axis Capital during the second quarter valued at about $100,683,000. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 47.7% in the second quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,817,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $188,662,000 after acquiring an additional 586,576 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the second quarter worth about $55,025,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,716,201 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $383,698,000 after purchasing an additional 425,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Axis Capital by 4,452.6% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 264,003 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,409,000 after purchasing an additional 258,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXS. Mizuho set a $141.00 price target on Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Compass Point set a $121.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, November 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $121.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $103.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $84.81 and a 1-year high of $110.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 15.37%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

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.