Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 378,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 70,817 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.45% of AXIS Capital worth $33,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $102.48 on Friday. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $68.02 and a 12-month high of $102.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.30, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $96.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. The company had revenue of $1.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. AXIS Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is currently 17.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.75.

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.