Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 235,742 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,718,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 235,742 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Axis Capital worth $826,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of 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 valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,690 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 5.3% during the third quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 3,257 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 8.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 28.7% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AXS. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.80.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Axis Capital stock opened at $100.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.34. 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 Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $110.34.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Axis Capital 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.