Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Purchased by SYM FINANCIAL Corp

SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Axis Capital by 95.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,685,000 after acquiring an additional 903,107 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Axis Capital by 22.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $328,580,000 after acquiring an additional 600,901 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Axis Capital by 174.6% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 744,842 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,329,000 after acquiring an additional 473,608 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Axis Capital by 113.0% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 747,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $74,970,000 after acquiring an additional 396,764 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Axis Capital during the first quarter worth about $16,880,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.29.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS opened at $91.19 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $96.03 and its 200-day moving average is $97.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $77.21 and a 12-month high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is currently 16.92%.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 in the last ninety days. 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.