California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 6,017 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,074 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 6,017 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.43% of AXIS Capital worth $31,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the third quarter valued at $235,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 28.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,144 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,479,000 after purchasing an additional 6,944 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 254,551 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,265,000 after buying an additional 144,792 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in AXIS Capital by 64.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,930 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AXS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AXIS Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on AXIS Capital in a research note on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,139,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $199,999,959.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,404,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,786,435.50. The trade was a 47.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of AXS traded down $3.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $87.32. 888,177 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 603,754. 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 cap of $7.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $93.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.67. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $60.45 and a 52 week high of $101.42.

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

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.25%.

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.