New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 29.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,078 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,418 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.11% of AXIS Capital worth $8,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 371,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,070,000 after purchasing an additional 121,437 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the third quarter valued at about $638,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the third quarter worth about $453,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $507,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,625,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,371,000 after purchasing an additional 318,784 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AXS. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.88.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXIS Capital stock opened at $95.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $89.95 and its 200 day moving average is $84.89. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.95. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $60.06 and a twelve month high of $95.58. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.25%.

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.