Swedbank AB Boosts Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Axis Capital Holdings by 28.9% during the second quarter, owning a total of 964,260 shares valued at approximately $100 million.
• Several hedge funds have modified their holdings in Axis Capital, with notable increases in investments such as IFP Advisors Inc boosting their holdings by 1,542.9% in the first quarter.
• Axis Capital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44, reflecting a 1.8% dividend yield, with the ex-dividend date set for September 30th.

Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 964,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 216,357 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 1.23% of Axis Capital worth $100,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 22.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $328,580,000 after buying an additional 600,901 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 95.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $185,685,000 after buying an additional 903,107 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,359,471 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $136,273,000 after buying an additional 4,793 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 925,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $92,749,000 after buying an additional 99,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 693,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $69,509,000 after buying an additional 35,024 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXS. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Axis Capital stock traded down $0.23 on Monday, reaching $95.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 671,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,741. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $107.19. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $96.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.93.

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

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total value of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Axis Capital 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.