Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 4,793 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,359,471 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,793 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.73% of Axis Capital worth $136,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXS. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.25.

Axis Capital Stock Up 0.1%

Axis Capital stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.09. 324,207 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 626,496. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $70.16 and a 12 month high of $107.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.93. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital's payout ratio is 17.46%.

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.