California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 203,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,038 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.28% of Axis Capital worth $20,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 5.0% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $113.77 on Thursday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $116.63. The stock has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $104.50 and a 200-day moving average of $102.78. 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 (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.45.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 46,347 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this link. 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.