Jennison Associates LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,450,136 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 154,859 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $150,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 12.5% in the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the second quarter valued at $277,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the second quarter valued at $278,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axis Capital in the second quarter valued at $901,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 43.2% in the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,256 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,996 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Axis Capital Stock Performance

Axis Capital stock opened at $88.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.84. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $107.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.68 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.77% and a net margin of 14.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.67, for a total transaction of $345,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,295 shares in the company, valued at $4,666,597.65. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel J. Draper sold 4,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.57, for a total value of $420,038.85. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,587,366.33. This represents a 20.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 12,205 shares of company stock valued at $1,188,048 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.