Axos Financial, Inc $AX Shares Sold by Kestrel Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Kestrel Investment Management Corp reduced its ownership in Axos Financial by 4.5%, now holding 99,350 shares after selling 4,700 shares in the second quarter.
• IFP Advisors Inc significantly increased its stake in Axos Financial by 360.7%, owning 493 shares valued at $37,000 after purchasing 386 additional shares.
• Recent analyst reports raised Axos Financial's price targets, with Needham & Company increasing it from $102.00 to $105.00 and DA Davidson from $100.00 to $106.00, both maintaining a "buy" rating.

Kestrel Investment Management Corp cut its stake in Axos Financial, Inc (NYSE:AX - Free Report) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,350 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,700 shares during the period. Axos Financial comprises about 4.5% of Kestrel Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Kestrel Investment Management Corp owned about 0.18% of Axos Financial worth $7,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Axos Financial by 360.7% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 493 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 39.2% in the first 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 period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Axos Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $119,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Axos Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Axos Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $215,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 13,960 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.38, for a total transaction of $1,191,904.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 67,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,759,734.80. This trade represents a 17.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Candace L. Thiele sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $63,098.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,073.22. The trade was a 96.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Axos Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Axos Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Axos Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.83.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX opened at $79.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.29. Axos Financial, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $54.46 and a fifty-two week high of $93.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.67 and a 200 day moving average of $78.21.

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

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.

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