Fred Alger Management LLC Makes New Investment in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,129,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,153,000 after buying an additional 49,695 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Axos Financial by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,874,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,952 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Axos Financial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,488,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,975,000 after acquiring an additional 43,503 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 742,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,887,000 after purchasing an additional 33,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Axos Financial by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 677,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,330,000 after purchasing an additional 54,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AX. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Axos Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sara Wardell-Smith purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $64.73 per share, for a total transaction of $194,190.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $663,482.50. This represents a 41.38 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul Grinberg sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $2,042,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 113,295 shares in the company, valued at $7,714,256.55. This represents a 20.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

Axos Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:AX opened at $68.76 on Friday. Axos Financial, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.10 and a twelve month high of $88.46. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.60.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.07. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 22.10%. The business had revenue of $432.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Axos Financial, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axos Financial Profile

Axos Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts.