AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Acquired by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.10% of AXIS Capital worth $7,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,118,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,625,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $129,371,000 after buying an additional 318,784 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 254,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,265,000 after acquiring an additional 144,792 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 48.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 371,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,070,000 after purchasing an additional 121,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,110,000 after buying an additional 112,536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at $406,613,715. This represents a 32.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS stock opened at $95.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.95 and a 200-day moving average of $84.89. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $60.06 and a 12-month high of $95.58.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. As a group, equities analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 14.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.88.

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.