Trexquant Investment LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Axis Capital by 139.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 53,599 shares.
• Axis Capital reported $3.29 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and the company's revenue rose 12.6% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed views on Axis Capital, with some upgrading price targets while others have dropped ratings from "buy" to "hold," giving it a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 139.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,125 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 53,599 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.12% of Axis Capital worth $9,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Axis Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Axis Capital by 1,542.9% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Axis Capital by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,184 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Axis Capital by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXS. Wall Street Zen lowered Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.0%

AXS traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.61. 480,661 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 701,816. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.58. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $74.68 and a 1 year high of $107.19.

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

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.