Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 401.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,085 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,281 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $1,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS stock traded up $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.20. 812,136 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,590. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $100.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.12. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $68.49 and a 52-week high of $107.19. The company has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

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