Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 516,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 90,069 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.66% of Axis Capital worth $51,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Axis Capital by 21.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 7.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 7,989 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Axis Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy 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 $108.25.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $97.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $70.16 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.29 and a 200 day moving average of $95.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital's payout ratio is 17.46%.

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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