Meritage Portfolio Management Has $5.29 Million Stock Position in AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in shares of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) by 1,132.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,474 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,729 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management owned 0.11% of AXIS Capital worth $5,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXIS Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in AXIS Capital during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AXIS Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 1,787.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in AXIS Capital by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. 93.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXS. StockNews.com lowered shares of AXIS Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on AXIS Capital from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AXIS Capital from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AXIS Capital from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AXIS Capital has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.33.

AXIS Capital Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AXIS Capital stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.99. 298,260 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 632,003. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has a 1-year low of $51.61 and a 1-year high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.80.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.25) by $4.19. AXIS Capital had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The business had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AXIS Capital Holdings Limited will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AXIS Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. AXIS Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stanley A. Galanski acquired 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.45 per share, with a total value of $409,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,647.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AXIS Capital Company 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.