41,197 Shares in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Acquired by Prudential PLC

Key Points

• Prudential PLC purchased 41,197 shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited valued at approximately $4.13 million, representing about 0.05% ownership of the company.
• Axis Capital reported $3.29 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and recorded a 12.6% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44, equating to an annual yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 16.92%.

Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 41,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,130,000. Prudential PLC owned 0.05% of Axis Capital as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 10,883 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Axis Capital by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,653 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,059,000 after buying an additional 5,624 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Axis Capital by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 41,844 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,708,000 after purchasing an additional 7,920 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,163 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Axis Capital Stock Down 0.3%

AXS traded down $0.30 on Monday, hitting $94.95. The company had a trading volume of 131,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,931. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $74.27 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.08.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The firm's revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.43.

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.