Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $12.97 Million Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,917 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Axis Capital worth $12,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Axis Capital in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 1,542.9% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,184 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Axis Capital by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of Axis Capital stock opened at $94.53 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.03. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $77.21 and a twelve month high of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 16.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

In related news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.