Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Cuts Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lowered its stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.71. 524,878 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 698,070. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a one year low of $68.02 and a one year high of $103.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $97.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82.

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

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.