AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1,009.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,032 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC owned approximately 0.08% of AXIS Capital worth $6,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in AXIS Capital by 7.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,110,000 after purchasing an additional 112,536 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in AXIS Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $111,015,000 after acquiring an additional 33,241 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,921,000 after acquiring an additional 43,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 758,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,369,000 after acquiring an additional 99,119 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AXS shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $199,999,922.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,613,715. This trade represents a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS opened at $91.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $60.06 and a 12-month high of $94.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.85 and a 200-day moving average of $84.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.95.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. Equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

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.