Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New $337,000 Investment in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,804 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $1,772,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $146,309,000 after buying an additional 25,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AXS shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.88.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXIS Capital stock traded down $0.92 on Wednesday, hitting $89.50. 418,210 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 691,293. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $89.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.64. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $59.53 and a 12-month high of $94.89. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.95.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.25%.

Insider Activity at AXIS Capital

In other 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 transaction of $199,999,922.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,543,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $406,613,715. This represents a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.