Quantinno Capital Management LP Has $32.30 Million Stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 64.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 318,539 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,317 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned 0.43% of Axis Capital worth $32,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Axis Capital by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,592,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $491,786,000 after buying an additional 1,083,579 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Axis Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $103,001,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Axis Capital during the third quarter valued at $56,705,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Axis Capital by 147.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 745,591 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,845,000 after buying an additional 443,761 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Axis Capital by 374.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,032,000 after acquiring an additional 436,944 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS opened at $105.58 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $119.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.50, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.25 by ($0.41). Axis Capital had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 16.23%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 12.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Axis Capital from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.