Insider Selling: Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) Director Sells $250,869.98 in Stock

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Director Henry Smith sold 2,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $99.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 326,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,319. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.47. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $110.34. The stock has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.41, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.54.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The company 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 revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Axis Capital from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.10.

Institutional Trading of Axis Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,954,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $762,029,000 after acquiring an additional 43,901 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,592,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $491,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,579 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,682,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $373,412,000 after purchasing an additional 299,573 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $170,069,000 after purchasing an additional 15,755 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,387,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,565,000 after buying an additional 10,246 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.