Wells Fargo & Company Raises AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) Price Target to $63.00

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 10.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AXS. UBS Group raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXIS Capital stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.59. 386,706 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 645,084. AXIS Capital has a 12 month low of $51.61 and a 12 month high of $70.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $63.36 and a 200 day moving average of $59.04.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXIS Capital news, Director W Marston Becker bought 3,025 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,842.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 13,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 3,970 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,654,000. Scout Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 61.3% during the 1st quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 550,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,769,000 after purchasing an additional 209,181 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,442,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 85,803 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,579,000 after purchasing an additional 22,540 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.