Graham Capital Management L.P. Raises Holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,144,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $367,265,000 after buying an additional 17,764 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,444,128 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $305,219,000 after acquiring an additional 12,571 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,178,512 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $281,680,000 after acquiring an additional 53,514 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in AXIS Capital by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,344,000 after purchasing an additional 134,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $155,052,000 after purchasing an additional 111,187 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on AXIS Capital from $114.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AXIS Capital from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.75.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the company’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 owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at $224,786,435.50. This represents a 47.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

NYSE AXS opened at $98.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.63. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $68.02 and a 12-month high of $102.36. 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 data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. AXIS Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.46%.

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.