River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 319,386 Shares of Axis Capital Holdings Limited $AXS

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,051,961 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 319,386 shares during the period. Axis Capital makes up 1.2% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Axis Capital were worth $112,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in Axis Capital by 5.0% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Axis Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,597 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Axis Capital by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 37,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Axis Capital by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 2,536 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Axis Capital Price Performance

Shares of Axis Capital stock opened at $101.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.80. Axis Capital Holdings Limited has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $110.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Axis Capital (NYSE:AXS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Axis Capital had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 16.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Axis Capital Holdings Limited will post 13.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axis Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Axis Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at Axis Capital

In other Axis Capital news, Director Henry B. Smith sold 2,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.69, for a total transaction of $250,869.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 46,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,985.43. This trade represents a 5.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho set a $137.00 price objective on Axis Capital in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Axis Capital from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Axis Capital from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $130.00 to $126.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Axis Capital from $115.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Axis Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.10.

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.