Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 12.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 309,386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 42,442 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.40% of Axis Capital worth $32,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $328,580,000 after purchasing an additional 600,901 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Axis Capital by 95.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,685,000 after buying an additional 903,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital during the second quarter valued at about $100,683,000. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 28.9% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 964,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,109,000 after acquiring an additional 216,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 925,265 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,749,000 after acquiring an additional 99,916 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

AXS stock opened at $100.26 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.09. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $83.90 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The firm has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 18.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXS. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Axis Capital in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Axis Capital from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, November 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.75.

Axis Capital Company 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.