336,847 Shares in AxoGen, Inc. $AXGN Acquired by TimesSquare Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• TimesSquare Capital Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in AxoGen, buying 336,847 shares valued at about $11.0 million, or roughly 0.73% of the company.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding about 80.29% of AxoGen’s stock, and several firms recently increased or initiated positions.
• Analysts are mixed but mostly positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $46.50, even though AxoGen recently missed EPS expectations while beating revenue estimates.

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 336,847 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,025,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned about 0.73% of AxoGen at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXGN. First Light Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AxoGen by 28.2% in the third quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 5,805,730 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $103,574,000 after buying an additional 1,276,487 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AxoGen by 183.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,931,158 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $20,953,000 after buying an additional 1,250,968 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AxoGen in the third quarter worth approximately $14,468,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in AxoGen by 85.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,433,782 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $15,557,000 after acquiring an additional 659,149 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AxoGen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,500,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AXGN. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of AxoGen from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of AxoGen in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AxoGen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of AxoGen from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of AxoGen from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.50.

AxoGen Price Performance

NASDAQ AXGN opened at $42.69 on Wednesday. AxoGen, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.22 and a 12 month high of $45.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.70 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50 day moving average is $35.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.45. The company has a current ratio of 7.10, a quick ratio of 5.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $61.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.85 million. AxoGen had a negative net margin of 13.21% and a negative return on equity of 9.63%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AxoGen, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at AxoGen

In other news, insider Erick Wayne Devinney sold 5,221 shares of AxoGen stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $171,457.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 262,781 shares in the company, valued at $8,629,728.04. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathy Johnson Weiler sold 16,344 shares of AxoGen stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total transaction of $720,606.96. Following the sale, the director owned 16,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,606.96. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,262 shares of company stock worth $1,440,250. 2.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About AxoGen

AxoGen, Inc is a Florida-based medical technology company that develops and commercializes surgical solutions for peripheral nerve damage. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Alachua, Florida, the company focuses on restoring nerve function and improving patient outcomes through innovative biologic and engineered products. AxoGen's offerings address a range of traumatic and iatrogenic injuries, offering alternatives to traditional nerve autografts.

The company's core product portfolio includes the Avance® Nerve Graft, a decellularized human nerve allograft designed to bridge nerve gaps without the need for a secondary harvest site, and the Axoguard® Nerve Connector and Protector devices, which facilitate nerve coaptation and protect repaired sites from surrounding scar tissue.

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