Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its Axis Capital stake by 75.4% in Q1, selling 11,334 shares and leaving it with 3,700 shares valued at about $375,000.
• Insider selling and analyst optimism both featured in the report: Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares, while multiple analysts raised price targets and kept Buy/Outperform ratings on AXS.
• Axis Capital recently beat earnings expectations with Q1 EPS of $3.42 versus $3.33 expected, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share for a 1.5% annualized yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 75.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,700 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,334 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Axis Capital by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,390 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,975,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Axis Capital by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the sale, the director owned 46,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AXS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Atlantic Securities set a $122.00 price objective on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $124.45.

Axis Capital Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $113.76 on Friday. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $115.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.24 and a 200-day moving average of $102.60.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital's payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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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