Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $3.04 Million Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its Axis Capital position by 43.5% in Q4, selling 21,844 shares and leaving it with 28,417 shares valued at about $3.04 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on AXS: eight analysts rate it a Buy, two rate it Hold, and the average price target is $122.10.
• Axis Capital recently beat earnings expectations with $3.42 EPS for the quarter and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually.

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 43.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,417 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 21,844 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Axis Capital were worth $3,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Axis Capital by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,222,932 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $117,157,000 after purchasing an additional 6,571 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Axis Capital by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 970,411 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $92,965,000 after purchasing an additional 225,569 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Axis Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,118,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Axis Capital by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,954,373 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $762,029,000 after purchasing an additional 43,901 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 110,364 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,573,000 after purchasing an additional 20,484 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Axis Capital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.10.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of Axis Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axis Capital Price Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $95.63 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $100.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.09. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $110.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital's payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.

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