D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182,043 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Axos Financial were worth $7,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,918,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,464,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Axos Financial by 9.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Axos Financial by 255.3% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 199,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,946,000 after acquiring an additional 143,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $88.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Axos Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

Axos Financial Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE AX opened at $72.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.25. Axos Financial, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.10 and a 12-month high of $88.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $432.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $305.04 million. Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.10% and a return on equity of 18.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Axos Financial, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Axos Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, May 12th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Axos Financial

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

Axos Financial Company 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.