Nebula Research & Development LLC Decreases Stock Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Nebula Research & Development LLC decreased its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 87.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,325 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 28,932 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 24,920 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 38,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,749,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $155,052,000 after acquiring an additional 111,187 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $305,219,000 after purchasing an additional 12,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in AXIS Capital by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 17,324 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXS has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on AXIS Capital from $120.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

AXS opened at $96.22 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $94.87 and a 200 day moving average of $90.36. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $61.20 and a 52-week high of $101.42. The stock has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.53. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,543,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $406,613,715. This trade represents a 32.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.