Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,915 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
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A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 447.2% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the second quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital during the first quarter valued at about $201,000. 92.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AXS has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut AXIS Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.50.
AXIS Capital Stock Performance
AXS opened at $53.53 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.69. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.81. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $48.32 and a fifty-two week high of $63.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.
AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 12.72% and a net margin of 4.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
AXIS Capital Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 18th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 78.22%.
About AXIS Capital
AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of various insurance, and reinsurance products and services. It operates through the Insurance and Reinsurance segments. The Insurance segment offers property, marine, terrorism, aviation, political risk, professional lines, liability, and accident, and health insurance products.
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