Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,604,995 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 45,970 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 2.04% of Axis Capital worth $160,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter worth $1,673,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,558 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Axis Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Axis Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Axis Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $108.25.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXS traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 324,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,064. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $101.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.04. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $70.16 and a fifty-two 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.

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

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.