Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 21.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 516,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 90,069 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $51,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 8.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Axis Capital by 81.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 55,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,585,000 after purchasing an additional 25,063 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 7.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Croban bought a new position in Axis Capital in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 50,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 19,424 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Axis Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.25.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Axis Capital stock opened at $97.13 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $101.29 and a 200-day moving average of $95.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $70.16 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.07 EPS. Axis Capital’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.46%.

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.