Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Sold by Cambiar Investors LLC

Key Points

• Cambiar Investors LLC reduced its stake in Axis Capital Holdings by 16.5% in the first quarter, now owning 29,756 shares valued at nearly $3 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their investments in Axis Capital, with IFP Advisors Inc. seeing a 1,542.9% boost to its stake.
• Axis Capital's stock has been rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with an average price target of $111.43.

Cambiar Investors LLC reduced its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,756 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 5,865 shares during the quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC's holdings in Axis Capital were worth $2,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% in 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 last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 2.9% during 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 period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 7.8% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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 upped their price objective on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total value of $211,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,975,104. This represents a 9.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded up $1.3630 on Tuesday, hitting $96.3730. The company had a trading volume of 362,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 760,883. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $74.27 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.36 and a 200 day moving average of $97.11. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.83.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%.The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.