Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 24,463 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Meeder Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 24,463 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 12.9% in 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 during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 47.7% during the second quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 1,817,204 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $188,662,000 after purchasing an additional 586,576 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $170,069,000 after purchasing an additional 15,755 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,194,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $114,457,000 after buying an additional 230,494 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,683,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXS. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target (down from $116.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Compass Point set a $121.00 target price on Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.78.

Axis Capital Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AXS opened at $101.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.60. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $83.90 and a 12 month high of $110.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.65.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 18.99%. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.55%.

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.