Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 34.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,084 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 41,085 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.10% of Axis Capital worth $7,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $367,265,000 after purchasing an additional 17,764 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Axis Capital by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $305,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,571 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Axis Capital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $281,680,000 after acquiring an additional 53,514 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Axis Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $238,344,000 after acquiring an additional 134,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Axis Capital by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,042,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $181,045,000 after acquiring an additional 20,976 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Axis Capital Stock Down 0.6%

AXS traded down $0.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $98.53. The stock had a trading volume of 710,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,163. The company has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.81. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $69.44 and a twelve month high of $107.19. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.60.

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

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AXS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Axis Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

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.