AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Bought by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 719.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,569 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 17,182 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $1,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,931 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,394 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AXIS Capital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.50.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS traded down $6.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.45. The company had a trading volume of 226,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,890. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.40. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a twelve month low of $60.45 and a twelve month high of $101.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.91.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. Equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $199,999,922.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at $406,613,715. This represents a 32.97 % 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. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.