Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited by 15.5% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.16% of the company after selling 23,025 shares.
• Axis Capital recently reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.88, with revenue increasing by 12.6% year-over-year.
• An insider, Daniel J. Draper, sold 4,305 shares at an average price of $97.57, resulting in a 20.92% decrease in ownership of the stock.

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 125,625 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 23,025 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.16% of Axis Capital worth $12,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 6,042 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axis Capital

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. This trade 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 have sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $119.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Six investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AXS traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $98.47. The stock had a trading volume of 463,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,819. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $97.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.52. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $74.68 and a 12 month high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.