Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Axis Capital Holdings by 27% during Q2, owning approximately 0.06% of the company, which is valued at $4.74 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including AQR Capital Management and Price T Rowe Associates, have also significantly boosted their holdings in Axis Capital, reflecting growing confidence in the company.
• Axis Capital recently reported earnings of $3.29 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a $0.44 quarterly dividend with a yield of 1.9% to be paid on October 17th.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 27.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,827 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,161 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Axis Capital worth $4,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $328,580,000 after purchasing an additional 600,901 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Axis Capital by 95.1% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 903,107 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Axis Capital by 0.4% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,359,471 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $136,273,000 after purchasing an additional 4,793 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Axis Capital by 28.9% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 964,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $100,109,000 after purchasing an additional 216,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Axis Capital by 12.1% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 925,265 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $92,749,000 after purchasing an additional 99,916 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Wall Street Zen cut Axis Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Axis Capital in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.43.

Axis Capital Stock Performance

AXS stock opened at $94.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.77. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $77.21 and a 12-month high of $107.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $96.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.92.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Axis Capital's dividend payout ratio is 16.92%.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In other news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,366.33. The trade was a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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