Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $4,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 439,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,118,000 after acquiring an additional 95,207 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Axis Capital by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 280,672 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,888,000 after purchasing an additional 37,741 shares during the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the third quarter valued at about $3,371,000. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $2,192,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 92,101 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,863,000 after purchasing an additional 24,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.70.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,573,985.43. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS stock opened at $112.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $115.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $102.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.55. The company has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

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.