AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) Shares Bought by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,650,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,908 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.97% of AXIS Capital worth $146,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXS. State Street Corp increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 7.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,675,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,110,000 after acquiring an additional 112,536 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,241 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 43,687 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,183,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,209,000 after buying an additional 9,181 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in AXIS Capital by 15.0% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 758,311 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $60,369,000 after buying an additional 99,119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of AXIS Capital from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on AXIS Capital from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.25.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 1.9 %

AXS opened at $90.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $90.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.64. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 12 month low of $55.56 and a 12 month high of $94.89.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) 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 net margin of 18.16% and a return on equity of 18.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given 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 dividend yield of 1.93%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.