AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 134,157 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 3.22% of AXIS Capital worth $238,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 53.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,964 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,898,000 after buying an additional 17,082 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,004,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 48.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 371,557 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,070,000 after purchasing an additional 121,437 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 2.5 %

AXS stock traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $99.84. 487,552 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,156. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $95.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.67. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $65.49 and a 1-year high of $101.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. AXIS Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $199,999,959.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AXS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.

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.