Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 17,764 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 17,764 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.95% of AXIS Capital worth $367,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $281,680,000 after acquiring an additional 53,514 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $146,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $88,175,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter worth $88,147,000. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 728,331 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $64,545,000 after buying an additional 321,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXS shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This trade represents a 47.08 % 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 link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE AXS traded down $1.01 on Friday, hitting $94.63. 170,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,283. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $60.64 and a 52-week high of $101.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.93.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. Research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

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.