Franklin Resources Inc. Has $640.59 Million Holdings in Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON

Key Points

• Franklin Resources sharply cut its Axon Enterprise stake by 86.8% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 1.13 million shares valued at about $640.6 million.
• Axon Enterprise reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS estimates and posting revenue of $807.35 million, up 33.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target of $712.75, while several insiders recently sold shares.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) by 86.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,127,933 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 7,409,236 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.43% of Axon Enterprise worth $640,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 413 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 583 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 387 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Financial Group LTD increased its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 1,388 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $800.00 target price on Axon Enterprise in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Axon Enterprise from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Axon Enterprise from $825.00 to $700.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Axon Enterprise from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Axon Enterprise from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $712.75.

Axon Enterprise Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AXON opened at $471.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $37.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.18, a PEG ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $408.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $491.12. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a 52 week low of $339.01 and a 52 week high of $885.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $807.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $778.91 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 posted $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axon Enterprise news, CRO Cameron Brooks sold 1,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $621,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 49,710 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,855,000. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Elizabeth Reid Coughlin sold 1,554 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total value of $753,690.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,501,640. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 39,344 shares of company stock worth $19,267,315 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the company's stock.

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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