BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Increases Stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,726 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 23,377 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.36% of AXIS Capital worth $23,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in AXIS Capital by 8,717.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,361,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $96,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345,811 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of AXIS Capital by 30.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,321,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,928,000 after buying an additional 545,546 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in AXIS Capital by 24.4% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,625,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,371,000 after buying an additional 318,784 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. purchased a new position in AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,065,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in AXIS Capital by 1,644.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,009,000 after acquiring an additional 226,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $81.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on AXIS Capital from $92.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXIS Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.86.

AXIS Capital Stock Performance

AXIS Capital stock opened at $88.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.90. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $53.49 and a 1-year high of $89.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.25 and its 200 day moving average is $75.66.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 10.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.89 EPS for the current year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is presently 24.41%.

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.