AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Acquired by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,654 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,087 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.40% of AXIS Capital worth $18,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,503,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 22,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in AXIS Capital by 118.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 70,672 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,913,000 after purchasing an additional 34,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in AXIS Capital by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.33.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:AXS opened at $62.26 on Tuesday. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.40.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $4.19. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 6.67%. Analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.78%.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Stanley A. Galanski acquired 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.45 per share, for a total transaction of $409,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares in the company, valued at $570,647.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.