Insider Selling: Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Insider Sells 2,200 Shares of Stock

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) insider Daniel Draper sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $211,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,574 shares in the company, valued at $1,975,104. This trade represents a 9.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Axis Capital Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $97.6380 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.83. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $74.27 and a 12-month high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The company’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axis Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 14.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 314,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,513,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter worth $319,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 34.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.43.

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.