Zacks Research Upgrades Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON) to "Strong-Buy"

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Axon Enterprise to “strong buy” from “hold.” The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with a consensus price target of $721.57.
• Axon reported quarterly earnings of $1.88 per share, exceeding estimates of $1.84, while revenue reached $904.39 million and grew 35.3% year over year.
• Shares opened at $418.62, well below their 12-month high of $764.02. Insiders sold $26.7 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 79.08% of the company.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

AXON has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Axon Enterprise from $724.00 to $732.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axon Enterprise has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $721.57.

Axon Enterprise Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AXON opened at $418.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business's 50 day moving average is $525.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $477.86. The company has a market cap of $34.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.70, a P/E/G ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 1.44. Axon Enterprise has a 12 month low of $339.01 and a 12 month high of $764.02.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $904.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.42 million. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 2.84% and a net margin of 6.19%.Axon Enterprise's revenue for the quarter was up 35.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Axon Enterprise will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Axon Enterprise

In other Axon Enterprise news, President Joshua Isner sold 16,775 shares of Axon Enterprise stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $574.43, for a total transaction of $9,636,063.25. Following the sale, the president owned 296,974 shares in the company, valued at $170,590,774.82. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jeffrey Kunins sold 9,605 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.70, for a total transaction of $6,019,453.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 97,761 shares in the company, valued at $61,266,818.70. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 47,397 shares of company stock valued at $26,722,984 in the last ninety days. 4.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axon Enterprise

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise by 1,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 70 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Owl Creek Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 84.8% in the 2nd quarter. Owl Creek Wealth Partners LLC now owns 85 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 79.08% of the company's stock.

About Axon Enterprise

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops technology and connected systems for public safety and law enforcement agencies. Its product portfolio includes TASER conducted energy weapons, body-worn cameras, in-car cameras and other recording devices designed to support safer interactions, improve accountability and document incidents.

The company also provides cloud-based software for managing digital evidence, reports, records and agency operations. Its Axon platform connects hardware with services such as evidence management, real-time operations, computer-aided dispatch and other workflow tools, enabling agencies to store, organize and share information across their organizations.

Founded in 1993 as AIR TASER by Rick Smith and Tom Smith, the company later operated as TASER International before adopting the name Axon Enterprise in 2017.

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