State of Wyoming Grows Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• The State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited by 172% in the first quarter, owning a total of 7,217 shares valued at $723,000.
• Several institutional investors also boosted their positions in Axis Capital, with Trexquant Investment LP raising its stake by 139.1% and Ieq Capital LLC by 91.2% during the same period.
• Analysts have set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Axis Capital, with an average price target of $111.43, including upgrades from Wells Fargo and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 172.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,217 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,564 shares during the period. State of Wyoming's holdings in Axis Capital were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 2.2% during the first 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 14.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Axis Capital by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 314,372 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,513,000 after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Axis Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Axis Capital by 34.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Axis Capital Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:AXS traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.72. 99,605 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 698,139. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.50 and a 200 day moving average of $97.59. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $74.68 and a 12 month high of $107.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.77.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The firm's revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXS shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $119.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axis Capital news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. The trade was a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. The trade was a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.