Norges Bank Takes Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 961,816 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $103,001,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.25% of Axis Capital at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,954,373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $762,029,000 after buying an additional 43,901 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,318,914 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $317,945,000 after buying an additional 74,567 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $170,069,000 after buying an additional 15,755 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,387,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,565,000 after buying an additional 10,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.5% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,222,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $117,157,000 after buying an additional 6,571 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXS. Bank of America lowered their price target on Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $137.00 price target on Axis Capital in a report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.10.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $98.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $99.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $110.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.51.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.