Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Acquired by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 127.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,307 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 732 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 2,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS opened at $92.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.60 and a 200-day moving average of $97.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.73. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $77.21 and a 1-year high of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.29.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048. Insiders own 0.70% 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.