Jennison Associates LLC Sells 599,851 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,225,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 599,851 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $67,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1,787.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 2,642.2% during the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 2,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 2,880 shares in the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AXIS Capital news, Director Stanley A. Galanski acquired 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.45 per share, with a total value of $409,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,647.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.33.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXS opened at $62.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.40. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $51.61 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $4.19. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 6.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is 43.78%.

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.