Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52‑week high after HC Wainwright raised its price target to $270 and kept a buy rating; AXSM traded as high as $234.29 and last traded around $228.74 (previous close $206.53).
• Analysts remain broadly positive (consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $222.76 target), but Axsome missed EPS—reported a ($1.26) loss vs. ($0.85) expected—while revenue of $191.2M was roughly in line and up 57.4% year‑over‑year, leaving the company still unprofitable.
• Insider selling has been significant—67,878 shares worth $11.12M sold in the last three months (notable sales by Ari Maizel and COO Mark Jacobson)—with insiders owning 20.6% of the stock and institutions owning 81.49%.

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $270.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Axsome Therapeutics traded as high as $234.29 and last traded at $228.7350, with a volume of 683959 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $206.53.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AXSM. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Axsome Therapeutics from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Axsome Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $217.00 target price on Axsome Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Axsome Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axsome Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $222.76.

Insider Activity at Axsome Therapeutics

In related news, insider Ari Maizel sold 7,500 shares of Axsome Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.42, for a total value of $1,368,150.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,150. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Mark L. Jacobson sold 35,378 shares of Axsome Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.88, for a total value of $5,726,990.64. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 67,878 shares of company stock worth $11,122,891 over the last three months. 20.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axsome Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Axsome Therapeutics by 6.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,180,646 shares of the company's stock worth $507,739,000 after purchasing an additional 235,626 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Axsome Therapeutics by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,509,870 shares of the company's stock worth $275,763,000 after purchasing an additional 472,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Axsome Therapeutics by 84.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,334,560 shares of the company's stock worth $162,082,000 after purchasing an additional 609,516 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Axsome Therapeutics by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,273,494 shares of the company's stock worth $232,591,000 after purchasing an additional 282,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Axsome Therapeutics by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,249 shares of the company's stock worth $184,544,000 after purchasing an additional 12,549 shares in the last quarter. 81.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axsome Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a PE ratio of -62.36 and a beta of 0.59.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by ($0.41). Axsome Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 232.61% and a negative net margin of 28.69%.The firm had revenue of $191.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.22 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company focuses on small-molecule drugs designed to address unmet medical needs in areas such as depression, migraine, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia. Axsome employs a precision medicine approach, leveraging pharmacologic innovation to target underlying mechanisms of disease and improve patient outcomes.

Axsome's pipeline includes several late-stage and approved product candidates.

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