Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Sold by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 21.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,483 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $1,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 21.6% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Axis Capital by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,755,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in Axis Capital by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,358 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Croban boosted its position in Axis Capital by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Croban now owns 10,249 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho set a $141.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Axis Capital from $121.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:AXS opened at $101.75 on Tuesday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $84.81 and a 12 month high of $110.34. 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 $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.47.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.28. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 15.37%.The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. Axis Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

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

Axis Capital 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.