Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its Axon Enterprise stake by 7.3% in the first quarter, selling 3,282 shares and retaining 41,464 shares valued at approximately $17.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.08% of the company.
• Axon reported quarterly EPS of $1.61, narrowly beating estimates, while revenue of $807.35 million exceeded forecasts and rose 33.7% year over year. Shares opened at $527.76, with a market capitalization of about $42.54 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 15 Buy ratings and three Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $725.25. Meanwhile, insiders sold nearly $30.5 million of stock over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 3,282 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Axon Enterprise worth $17,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 1,198.7% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,642,578 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $932,869,000 after buying an additional 1,516,099 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $846,516,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise by 326.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,539,738 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $874,463,000 after buying an additional 1,179,038 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise during the fourth quarter worth approximately $515,764,000. Finally, Styrax Capital LP acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise during the first quarter worth approximately $84,938,000. 79.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axon Enterprise Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AXON opened at $527.76 on Friday. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a 52-week low of $339.01 and a 52-week high of $885.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $497.09 and a 200-day moving average of $476.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.54 billion, a PE ratio of 211.95, a P/E/G ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $807.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.90 million. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 3.78% and a net margin of 6.90%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Cameron Brooks sold 1,242 shares of Axon Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $621,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 49,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,855,000. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Patrick W. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $10,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,060,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,498,500. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,989 shares of company stock worth $30,527,983. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXON has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Axon Enterprise from $674.00 to $724.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Axon Enterprise from $600.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $535.00 price objective on Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Axon Enterprise from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $600.00 target price on Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axon Enterprise presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $725.25.

About Axon Enterprise

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops technology and weapons systems for public safety and law enforcement agencies, combining hardware, software and cloud services. The company's hardware portfolio includes conducted energy weapons (commonly known as TASER devices), body-worn cameras and in-car camera systems. Axon pairs these devices with a suite of connected products and accessories designed to capture, store and manage field evidence.

Beyond hardware, Axon operates a subscription-based software platform for digital evidence management, evidence review and records management.

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