W Marston Becker Acquires 3,025 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Stock

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Director W Marston Becker purchased 3,025 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,842.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXS traded up $1.01 on Wednesday, hitting $69.82. 749,798 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 647,181. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $69.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 10.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.88.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 26.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXIS Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 10,028 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,830 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 6,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

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.