State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Holdings in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,610 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 16,552 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in AXIS Capital were worth $2,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital by 55.6% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 80.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in AXIS Capital by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 588 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in AXIS Capital by 61,675.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AXIS Capital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

AXS stock opened at $77.91 on Friday. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 52-week low of $52.90 and a 52-week high of $80.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.98.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. AXIS Capital had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 11.28%. AXIS Capital’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. AXIS Capital’s payout ratio is presently 26.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AXIS Capital from $63.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on AXIS Capital from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on AXIS Capital from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.50.

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.