Nuveen Asset Management LLC Purchases 114,768 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,107,967 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 114,768 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.32% of AXIS Capital worth $98,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXS. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 53.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,964 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 17,082 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $225,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $549,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 2,765 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in AXIS Capital by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at AXIS Capital

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXIS Capital stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.84. The stock had a trading volume of 460,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 594,635. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $68.02 and a 12 month high of $103.67. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $96.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.