Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 303,481 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,578 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $16,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXS. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,785,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter worth $52,845,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXIS Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $3,503,000. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 1,132.7% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 95,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 87,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $1,168,000. 93.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXS has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $86.00 price objective on shares of AXIS Capital in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AXIS Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director W Marston Becker purchased 3,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.58 per share, for a total transaction of $201,404.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,842.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AXIS Capital news, Director W Marston Becker acquired 3,025 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.58 per share, with a total value of $201,404.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,452,842.18. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Millegan bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.49 per share, for a total transaction of $100,086.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 9,016 shares in the company, valued at $644,553.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,425 shares of company stock worth $444,351. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AXIS Capital Price Performance

Shares of AXS opened at $71.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.90. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a fifty-two week low of $52.02 and a fifty-two week high of $74.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.89.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.17. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.11% and a net margin of 10.34%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. AXIS Capital’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.91%.

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.