Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 11,134 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Axis Capital by 3.6%, owning approximately 297,828 shares valued at about $29.85 million after selling 11,134 shares in Q1.
• Other institutional investors, such as AQR Capital Management LLC, increased their positions in Axis Capital significantly, with AQR's holdings growing by 22.3% in the same quarter.
• Axis Capital reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.29 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.88, although revenues fell short of analyst expectations.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,828 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,134 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.38% of Axis Capital worth $29,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 0.6% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 25,065 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,513,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted 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 worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,626,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.9% in the first quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 6,042 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 16,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. The trade was a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Price Performance

NYSE AXS traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 171,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,636. The stock has a market cap of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.77. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $75.42 and a fifty-two week high of $107.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $97.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

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

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.