Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,159 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Axis Capital worth $11,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 29,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Axis Capital during the second quarter valued at about $292,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Axis Capital by 6.9% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 71,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,637 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 8.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,115 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Axis Capital by 13.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 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 the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 target price on Axis Capital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Axis Capital from $125.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Axis Capital in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

Axis Capital Trading Up 2.0%

Axis Capital stock opened at $99.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.73. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $82.92 and a fifty-two week high of $107.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $184.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 16.08%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 14.55%.

Axis Capital Company 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.