Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Sells 269 Shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lowered its position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,643 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,317,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $408,797,000 after acquiring an additional 61,648 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 5.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,629,738 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $178,406,000 after acquiring an additional 190,161 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in AXIS Capital by 1.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,423,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $168,268,000 after purchasing an additional 61,427 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AXIS Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,832,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,262,000 after purchasing an additional 16,687 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in AXIS Capital by 8.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,583,014 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,805,000 after purchasing an additional 121,969 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.89% of the company’s stock.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXIS Capital stock opened at $56.13 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.69. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $48.32 and a 52 week high of $63.99. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The insurance provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 4.87%. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 7.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXIS Capital in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on AXIS Capital from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on AXIS Capital in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

About AXIS Capital

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AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of various insurance, and reinsurance products and services. It operates through the Insurance and Reinsurance segments. The Insurance segment offers property, marine, terrorism, aviation, political risk, professional lines, liability, and accident, and health insurance products.