Madison Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 32,829 Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 32,829 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,527,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 53,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,467,000 after acquiring an additional 12,896 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,192,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 258.4% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 37,672 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,034,000 after purchasing an additional 27,160 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Axis Capital by 1,102.3% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 65,575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,636,000 after purchasing an additional 60,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S grew its position in Axis Capital by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 125,162 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,404,000 after purchasing an additional 31,830 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.4%

AXS stock opened at $98.91 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $119.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXS shares. Weiss Ratings cut Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Axis Capital from $131.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Capital One Financial set a $108.00 target price on Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on Axis Capital from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Axis Capital from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.50.

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.