Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 15.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,603 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Axis Capital were worth $3,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 95.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $185,685,000 after acquiring an additional 903,107 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 22.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $328,580,000 after acquiring an additional 600,901 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 113.0% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 747,903 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $74,970,000 after acquiring an additional 396,764 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the first quarter worth about $26,499,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the first quarter worth about $16,880,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price objective on Axis Capital and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Axis Capital in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.29.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $98.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $77.21 and a 1-year high of $107.19. The business's 50 day moving average is $96.74 and its 200-day moving average is $97.96.

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

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Axis Capital's payout ratio is presently 16.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.