South Dakota Investment Council Buys 18,766 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 45.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,766 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.07% of AXIS Capital worth $5,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,110,000 after buying an additional 112,536 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,309,000 after buying an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $111,015,000 after buying an additional 33,241 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,267,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $100,921,000 after buying an additional 43,687 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in AXIS Capital by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 758,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $60,369,000 after buying an additional 99,119 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles A. Davis sold 2,234,636 shares of AXIS Capital stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,543,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,613,715. This trade represents a 32.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $91.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.85 and a 200-day moving average of $84.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.06 and a fifty-two week high of $94.89.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 14.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AXS. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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 lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.88.

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.