Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys New Stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,110,000 after purchasing an additional 112,536 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,309,000 after purchasing an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $111,015,000 after buying an additional 33,241 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $100,921,000 after acquiring an additional 43,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,209,000 after acquiring an additional 9,181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of AXIS Capital stock opened at $89.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.95. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.06 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.87.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $199,999,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at $406,613,715. The trade was a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.88.

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.