Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 22.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 110,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,484 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $10,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 94.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital during the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Axis Capital by 145.1% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXS. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho set a $141.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $121.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Compass Point set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Axis Capital Price Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $104.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.99. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $84.81 and a 52-week high of $110.34.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.28. Axis Capital had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is 14.21%.

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.