Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management increased its Axon stake by 4,478.6% in the third quarter, purchasing 308,710 additional shares and holding 315,603 shares valued at approximately $133.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.08% of Axon.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $689.94, although recent targets have varied widely, including Piper Sandler’s reduction to $561.
• Axon shares rose 1.4% to $420.37, while the company reported quarterly revenue growth of 35.3% year over year and earnings of $1.88 per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations.

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) by 4,478.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,603 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 308,710 shares during the period. Axon Enterprise comprises 2.7% of Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Axon Enterprise worth $133,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Axon Enterprise by 40,106.2% during the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 199,423 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $84,260,000 after buying an additional 198,927 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 6,248.3% during the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 505,323 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $213,509,000 after buying an additional 497,363 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 34,185.0% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 359,992 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $152,104,000 after buying an additional 358,942 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 3,507.0% during the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,689,000 after buying an additional 26,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $523.00 to $688.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $732.00 to $561.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $689.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axon Enterprise news, CEO Patrick Smith sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.99, for a total transaction of $5,089,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,118,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,587,036,927.88. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.70, for a total value of $6,019,453.50. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have 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.

Axon Enterprise Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AXON traded up $5.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $420.37. The company had a trading volume of 844,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,962. The company has a market capitalization of $34.15 billion, a PE ratio of 174.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $480.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a one year low of $339.01 and a one year high of $764.02.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.04. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 2.84% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $904.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $876.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Axon Enterprise's revenue was up 35.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 2.10 EPS for the current year.

Axon Enterprise Company Profile

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops technology and connected products for public safety organizations. The company's portfolio includes TASER conducted-energy weapons, body-worn cameras, in-car cameras, and related hardware designed to support law enforcement, corrections, security, and other emergency-response professionals.

Axon also provides cloud-based software for managing digital evidence, records, workflows, real-time operations, investigations, and communications. Its platform is intended to connect hardware, software, and services across the public-safety ecosystem, helping agencies collect, store, analyze, and share operational information.

The company was founded in 1993 as TASER International by Rick Smith and Tom Smith and adopted the name Axon Enterprise in 2017 as it expanded beyond conducted-energy weapons into a broader technology platform.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.