Vanguard Group Inc. Has $792.46 Million Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. sold 693,922 shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited, reducing its ownership by 8.1% to approximately 7.9 million shares, valued at $792.5 million according to its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have varying ratings for Axis Capital, with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.43, indicating investor optimism about the stock's future performance.
• Axis Capital recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44, representing a 1.8% dividend yield, and reported a strong quarterly performance, beating EPS estimates with $3.29.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,905,594 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 693,922 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.05% of Axis Capital worth $792,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Axis Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Axis Capital by 1,542.9% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 575 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,184 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Axis Capital by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $111.43.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of Axis Capital stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $97.35. 602,485 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $74.05 and a 1-year high of $107.19. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.36, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $98.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.97.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.92%.

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.