219,402 Shares in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Purchased by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 219,402 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $19,443,000. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.26% of AXIS Capital as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $367,265,000 after buying an additional 17,764 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $305,219,000 after buying an additional 12,571 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $281,680,000 after buying an additional 53,514 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 134,157 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $199,999,959.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS stock traded up $1.33 on Tuesday, hitting $101.95. 83,233 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 695,083. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $68.02 and a 1-year high of $103.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $97.17 and a 200-day moving average of $92.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

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.