Paragon Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Paragon Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,001 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,772,000. AXIS Capital comprises 1.4% of Paragon Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in AXIS Capital in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in AXIS Capital by 24.0% during 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 during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AXIS Capital by 424.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $93.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut AXIS Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at $406,613,715. The trade was a 32.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.43. 801,582 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 696,762. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $90.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.03. The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.95. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12-month low of $57.99 and a 12-month high of $94.89. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.97 earnings per share 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, research analysts anticipate that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. AXIS Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.