Key Points
- Director Henry Smith sold 4,893 Axis Capital shares at an average price of $106.15, generating $519,391.95 and reducing his direct ownership by 10.56% to 41,454 shares.
- Axis Capital exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.12 in EPS versus the $2.85 consensus and $1.79 billion in revenue versus the $1.69 billion estimate.
- The stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from analysts, with nine Buy ratings and five Holds and an average price target of $120; institutional investors own 93.44% of outstanding shares.
Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) Director Henry Smith sold 4,893 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.15, for a total value of $519,391.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,400,342.10. The trade was a 10.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Axis Capital Stock Performance
Shares of AXS stock opened at $106.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.89 and a 200 day moving average of $102.03. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $92.23 and a 1 year high of $119.99.
Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.69 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 14.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.
Axis Capital Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital's payout ratio is 13.45%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AXS shares. Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 target price on Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $131.00 to $126.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Mizuho set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Axis Capital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.00.
View Our Latest Research Report on Axis Capital
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axis Capital
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,682,238 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $373,412,000 after buying an additional 299,573 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,710,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $173,504,000 after buying an additional 21,001 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 14.0% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,362,091 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $138,130,000 after buying an additional 167,337 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,071,887 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $108,700,000 after acquiring an additional 23,109 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 31.4% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 979,944 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $99,376,000 after acquiring an additional 234,353 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Axis Capital
(
Get Free Report)
Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE: AXS) is a Bermuda-based specialty insurance and reinsurance company. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides coverage and risk-management solutions for businesses, institutions and other insurers facing complex or difficult-to-place risks.
AXIS offers a range of commercial property and casualty insurance products, including professional liability, cyber, marine, aviation, energy, environmental, political risk, credit and surety, and accident and health coverage.
Further Reading
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