MGB Wealth Management LLC Invests $658,000 in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

MGB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXS. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 62,951 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,579,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 133,675 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,846,000 after acquiring an additional 4,303 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 10,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,653 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,059,000 after acquiring an additional 5,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 186,213 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,502,000 after acquiring an additional 24,556 shares during the last quarter. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axis Capital Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AXS opened at $94.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.83. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 1 year low of $71.64 and a 1 year high of $107.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $99.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.41. Axis Capital had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 18.77%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 16.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Axis Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Axis Capital from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Axis Capital in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.43.

Axis Capital 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.