Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 197.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,298 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $2,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Barclays PLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 17,082 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,463 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS stock opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.58. The stock has a market cap of $7.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $68.02 and a 1 year high of $102.36. 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 (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 EPS. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.46%.

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.