Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 5,056 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,678 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,056 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Axis Capital were worth $3,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Axis Capital by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% during 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Axis Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Axis Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Axis Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.75.

Axis Capital Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded down $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.97. The stock had a trading volume of 134,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,855. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $68.49 and a 52 week high of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm's fifty day moving average is $101.15 and its 200 day moving average is $95.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.83.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

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