Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Purchases 14,994 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension increased its stake in Axis Capital by 6.4% in Q1, buying 14,994 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 249,720 shares worth about $25.3 million.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on AXS, with several raising price targets; the stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $124.70.
• Axis Capital recently beat earnings expectations with $3.42 EPS and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, which implies an annual yield of about 1.6%.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension grew its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,720 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,994 shares during the quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned approximately 0.34% of Axis Capital worth $25,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,390 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total value of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 46,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% 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. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Axis Capital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Axis Capital from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their price target on Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $124.70.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

AXS stock opened at $113.13 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.49. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $88.07 and a 1-year high of $115.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital's payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.

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