Evolve Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 48,278 Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 48,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,191,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Axis Capital by 12.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,361,000 after purchasing an additional 7,023 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 205,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,605,000 after purchasing an additional 12,680 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 86.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after buying an additional 21,892 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 33.6% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 46,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of AXS opened at $103.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $110.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.81.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.00% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXS. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.10.

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.