Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,710,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,001 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $173,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,361,000 after acquiring an additional 7,023 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 6.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 205,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,605,000 after purchasing an additional 12,680 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 86.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 21,892 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Axis Capital by 42.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 33.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AXS. Weiss Ratings raised Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday. Capital One Financial set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Eight 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, Axis Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.42.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE AXS opened at $105.10 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $119.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.18. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.25 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.74 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 16.23%.Axis Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Trending Headlines about Axis Capital

Here are the key news stories impacting Axis Capital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target to $126 from $134 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying nearly 20% upside from the referenced share price. The median target among five analysts is $131. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Management expects approximately $17 million in full-year ACS fee income and indicated that share repurchases will continue during the second half of 2026, potentially supporting per-share value. Axis expects ACS fee income and continued buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: AXS appointed Rahil Jogani to a newly created role leading technology and artificial-intelligence strategy. The initiative could improve efficiency over time, but its near-term financial impact is unclear. AXIS appoints technology and AI strategy head
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter operating earnings were $2.84 per share, below the roughly $3.30 consensus estimate, despite net income of $3.38 per share and revenue of $1.75 billion, which exceeded expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: The consolidated combined ratio deteriorated to 93.1% from 85.3% a year earlier, signaling materially weaker underwriting profitability. Catastrophe and weather-related losses reached $80 million, or 5.3 loss-ratio points, while weaker investment income also weighed on results. AXIS Capital Q2 earnings miss

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.