Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Stock Position Raised by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 31.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 979,944 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,353 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.33% of Axis Capital worth $99,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXS. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Axis Capital by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,592,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,579 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $103,001,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Axis Capital during the third quarter valued at $56,705,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Axis Capital by 374.7% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,032,000 after buying an additional 436,944 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Axis Capital by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,370,479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $146,765,000 after buying an additional 400,068 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 46,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.45.

Axis Capital Stock Up 1.6%

AXS stock opened at $116.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $116.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

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.