Royce & Associates LP Sells 78,787 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 17.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 366,193 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 78,787 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.44% of AXIS Capital worth $29,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXS. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in AXIS Capital by 8,717.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,361,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $96,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345,811 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $150,928,000 after acquiring an additional 545,546 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the first quarter worth $17,065,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1,644.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,009,000 after purchasing an additional 226,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 9.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,583,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $182,538,000 after purchasing an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.86.

AXIS Capital Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AXS opened at $86.73 on Friday. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $53.48 and a 1-year high of $86.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.02. 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 has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.90.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.16. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 10.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 24.41%.

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.