Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 35.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 50,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $8,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $88,175,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $88,147,000. FIL Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,893,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $37,775,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AXS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXS opened at $94.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $60.64 and a 1 year high of $101.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. On average, analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% 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.