Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 25,548 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 45.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,343 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 25,548 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $2,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,404,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.75.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXIS Capital stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.77. 710,171 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 599,274. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $68.02 and a twelve month high of $101.42. 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 $95.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.10. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of 8.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion for 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%. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is 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.