Brookwood Investment Group LLC Has $1.13 Million Stock Position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Brookwood Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,872 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,145 shares during the quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 22.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,290,411 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $328,580,000 after buying an additional 600,901 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 95.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,852,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,685,000 after buying an additional 903,107 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 0.4% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,359,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,273,000 after buying an additional 4,793 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Axis Capital by 28.9% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 964,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,109,000 after buying an additional 216,357 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 925,265 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,749,000 after purchasing an additional 99,916 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,666,597.65. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total transaction of $420,038.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,587,366.33. The trade was a 20.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock worth $1,188,048. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AXS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $123.00 price target on shares of Axis Capital and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.29.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXS opened at $91.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $77.21 and a twelve month high of $107.19.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.92%.

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.