Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 124,317 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 64.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 318,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 124,317 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $32,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,592,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,786,000 after buying an additional 1,083,579 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $103,001,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,705,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 147.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 745,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,845,000 after acquiring an additional 443,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 374.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,032,000 after purchasing an additional 436,944 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.5%

AXS stock opened at $105.58 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $119.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

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.