Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Axos Financial, Inc (NYSE:AX)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. has acquired 8,104 shares of Axos Financial, Inc, valued at approximately $523,000, as part of their investment strategy in the first quarter.
• Recent analyst reports have led to increased price targets for Axos Financial, with Needham & Company raising the target from $92.00 to $102.00, and three analysts rating the stock as a "hold" while five give it a "buy" rating.
• Axos Financial has announced a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $100.00 million in shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Axos Financial, Inc (NYSE:AX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 1,700.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Axos Financial by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Axos Financial by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Axos Financial by 37.2% during the first quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,649 shares of the company's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Axos Financial from $84.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Axos Financial from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Axos Financial from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Axos Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.86.

Insider Transactions at Axos Financial

In other news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 13,960 shares of Axos Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.38, for a total transaction of $1,191,904.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,460 shares in the company, valued at $5,759,734.80. The trade was a 17.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.07% of the company's stock.

Axos Financial Trading Up 1.1%

AX traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.08. The stock had a trading volume of 110,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 392,260. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $79.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.32. Axos Financial, Inc has a 52 week low of $54.46 and a 52 week high of $88.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $321.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.73 million. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Axos Financial, Inc will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Axos Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 12th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Axos Financial

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.