Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 10,393 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 60.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,658 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,393 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $2,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 17,764 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $305,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,571 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in AXIS Capital by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $281,680,000 after purchasing an additional 53,514 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $238,344,000 after purchasing an additional 134,157 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,042,925 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $181,045,000 after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS traded up $2.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,085,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,626. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $68.02 and a twelve month high of $107.19. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $98.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.08.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.83 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. AXIS Capital's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is 17.46%.

AXIS Capital Company 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.