Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 28.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,954 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 34,919 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $9,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $56,705,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 374.7% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,032,000 after buying an additional 436,944 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Axis Capital by 196.5% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 484,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,426,000 after buying an additional 321,145 shares during the period. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,137,000. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 31.8% during the third quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 836,861 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,171,000 after buying an additional 201,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $137.00 price target on Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.10.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $95.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $88.07 and a 52-week high of $110.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.51.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.