Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 5.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 203,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,038 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $20,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $491,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Axis Capital by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,382,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $362,263,000 after buying an additional 63,751 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Axis Capital by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,631,198 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $170,069,000 after buying an additional 15,755 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Axis Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,387,004 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,565,000 after buying an additional 10,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Axis Capital by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,370,479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $146,765,000 after buying an additional 400,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Axis Capital Price Performance

AXS stock opened at $113.77 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.78. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $116.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.49.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Axis Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Axis Capital’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In related news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,985.43. This represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $119.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.45.

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.