Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON Stock: Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Position

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Investments sharply increased its Axon position by adding 282,151 shares, bringing its stake to 282,196 shares valued at approximately $119.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.08% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: Axon has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $689.94, although individual targets range widely.
• Axon beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.88 in EPS and $904.39 million in revenue, up 35.3% year over year. However, the stock’s valuation remains elevated, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.43, while insiders have sold roughly $26.7 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) by 627,002.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,196 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 282,151 shares during the period. Axon Enterprise accounts for approximately 2.8% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Axon Enterprise worth $119,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXON. State Street Corp raised its position in Axon Enterprise by 5,700.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 213,561,844 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $119,724,905,000 after purchasing an additional 209,879,882 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise by 18,050.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,200,075 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $7,400,094,000 after acquiring an additional 13,127,348 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Axon Enterprise by 4.3% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,334,551 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,672,432,000 after acquiring an additional 345,365 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Axon Enterprise by 391,214.9% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 6,988,884 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,952,943,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 8,432.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,537,957 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,983,414,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,493 shares during the period. 79.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AXON shares. Argus raised their target price on shares of Axon Enterprise from $460.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Axon Enterprise from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Northcoast Research boosted their price objective on Axon Enterprise from $650.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $732.00 to $561.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $689.94.

Axon Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of AXON opened at $420.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $480.64 and a 200-day moving average of $473.90. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a 52 week low of $339.01 and a 52 week high of $764.02. The firm has a market cap of $34.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.43, a PEG ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.44.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biotechnology company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 2.10 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Isaiah Fields sold 1,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $488,617.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 56,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,032,038.80. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 dated 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 owned 97,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,266,818.70. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,397 shares of company stock valued at $26,722,984. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axon Enterprise 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.

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