Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 30,849 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC trimmed its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,333,577 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 30,849 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 1.59% of AXIS Capital worth $118,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AXIS Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $367,265,000 after purchasing an additional 17,764 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $305,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,571 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% during 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 buying an additional 53,514 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $238,344,000 after buying an additional 134,157 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,042,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $181,045,000 after buying an additional 20,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 47.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AXS traded down $1.03 on Wednesday, reaching $101.64. The stock had a trading volume of 100,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,697. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.99. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $68.02 and a 12-month high of $103.85. 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 (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The company 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%. AXIS Capital's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued 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 1.73%. AXIS Capital's payout ratio is 17.46%.

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.