AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 134,157 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 3.22% of AXIS Capital worth $238,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXS. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in AXIS Capital by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,763 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,060,000 after purchasing an additional 71,553 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in AXIS Capital by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,972 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,206,000. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in AXIS Capital by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 24,920 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in AXIS Capital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 38,823 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Up 1.2 %

AXS stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $97.46. The company had a trading volume of 758,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 602,588. 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 capitalization of $7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.48. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $63.38 and a fifty-two week high of $101.42.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.25%.

AXIS Capital Company 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.