Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,373 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 73.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXIS Capital

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AXIS Capital Price Performance

NYSE:AXS traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.49. 947,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 605,988. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $93.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.75. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $60.45 and a 52-week high of $101.42. The company has a market cap of $7.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.29. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 18.16%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

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.