Axis Capital Holdings Ltd (NYSE: AXS) is a $3.61 billion property and casualty company that saw a surge in buying activity last week from an independent director of the company named Charles A. Davis. Davis is the CEO of Stone Point Capital and Chairman of the Investment committees of the Trident Funds and is not new to investing in property and casualty with previous positions in Progressive Corp in 2012.
After succumbing to the market selling in February, the share price has been rangebound between $35 and $43.50. The price was able to close above that resistance last Friday. The price is also currently trading above the 20-day and 50-day moving averages and is narrowing the distance to the 200-day near $49.
The increased buying activity comes following an earnings announcement on July 28 that beat analyst estimates. Since the report, Charles Davis has increased his holdings from 2.47 million shares to over 4.1 million shares. That’s an increase of over 68% in just the last week alone. The director doubled his holdings in June as well.
Insiders currently own nearly 10% of the shares, which is relatively significant and demonstrates some alignment with the objectives of the company. Institutional ownership is currently 70.47% with T Rowe Price, Vanguard Group and Richard Penza being the top three institutional holders.
Action to Take: The positive surprise coupled with the increased insider buying and bullish breakout is an indication that the price is looking to move higher. The financial sector was one of the better-performing sectors last week and is looking to run higher if the market continues to advance. AXS has a near-term target of $53.50 in the coming weeks.