Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 11,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,178,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Axis Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $103,001,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Axis Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,705,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 374.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,032,000 after acquiring an additional 436,944 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,370,479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $146,765,000 after acquiring an additional 400,068 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Axis Capital by 196.5% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 484,619 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,426,000 after acquiring an additional 321,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $101.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.51. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $88.07 and a 1-year high of $110.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $99.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.79.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

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

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.