American Century Companies Inc. Sells 76,274 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,920,182 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 76,274 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $279,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Axis Capital by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 63,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,361,000 after acquiring an additional 7,023 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 205,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $20,605,000 after acquiring an additional 12,680 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 47,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 21,892 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 42.1% during the first 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 increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Axis Capital from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $121.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $105.78 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $84.81 and a 1 year high of $110.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $104.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.28. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 15.37%.The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.21%.

Axis Capital 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.