AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Holdings Reduced by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 322,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 61,123 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $28,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in AXIS Capital by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $94.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.66, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $60.64 and a 52 week high of $101.42.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,613,715. This trade represents a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.