Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 131,337 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 78.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,293 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 131,337 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.'s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $3,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $367,265,000 after acquiring an additional 17,764 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $305,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,571 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $281,680,000 after purchasing an additional 53,514 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $238,344,000 after purchasing an additional 134,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,749,627 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $155,052,000 after purchasing an additional 111,187 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $199,999,959.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.90. 640,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,723. The stock's fifty day moving average is $97.65 and its 200 day moving average is $93.44. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $68.02 and a 1-year high of $104.16.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.46%.

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.