Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Invests $384,000 in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AX. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 32.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 142,715 shares of the company's stock worth $8,974,000 after buying an additional 35,087 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 27.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,717 shares of the company's stock worth $20,167,000 after buying an additional 70,017 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the company's stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $9,849,000. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 39,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 5,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.75. The stock had a trading volume of 297,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,273. The company's 50 day moving average price is $63.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.73. Axos Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.10 and a 1-year high of $88.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Axos Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, May 12th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sara Wardell-Smith bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.73 per share, with a total value of $194,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $663,482.50. The trade was a 41.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Grinberg sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total transaction of $2,042,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $72.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson cut their target price 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. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axos Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

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.