Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 42,139 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 949,291 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 42,139 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.13% of AXIS Capital worth $84,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in AXIS Capital by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.75.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 1.2 %

AXS traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $97.46. 758,649 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,965. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $94.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.36. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $61.20 and a 1-year high of $101.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The business 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 posted $3.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.25%.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,404,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. This trade represents a 47.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.