Ground Swell Capital LLC Buys Shares of 2,378 AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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 raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $101.23 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.23. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $68.02 and a 1 year high of $101.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 17.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% 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.