Jennison Associates LLC Has $67.86 Million Holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,225,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 599,851 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 1.44% of AXIS Capital worth $67,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,503,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 118.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 70,672 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,913,000 after buying an additional 34,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AXIS Capital Stock Down 0.5 %

AXS opened at $62.16 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.40. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $51.61 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $4.19. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 6.67%. Research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.39 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Stanley A. Galanski purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.45 per share, with a total value of $409,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,647.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.