Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 15,839 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 468,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,839 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.64% of Axis Capital worth $47,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AXS shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Axis Capital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.45.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Axis Capital stock opened at $116.45 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $88.07 and a 1-year high of $116.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.95.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.