HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in AXOS FINANCIAL, INC $AX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Axos Financial, Inc by 49.2%, selling 6,570 shares and now holding 6,778 shares worth approximately $437,000.
• Axos Financial's latest earnings report revealed an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.94, exceeding analyst expectations, and a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.5%.
• The company's board approved a share repurchase plan, allowing for up to $100 million in buybacks, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation.

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in AXOS FINANCIAL, INC (NYSE:AX - Free Report) by 49.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,778 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,570 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in AXOS FINANCIAL were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXOS FINANCIAL by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,017 shares of the company's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,901 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AXOS FINANCIAL by 1,700.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AXOS FINANCIAL by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in AXOS FINANCIAL by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,252,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in AXOS FINANCIAL during the 1st quarter valued at $750,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Candace L. Thiele sold 700 shares of AXOS FINANCIAL 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 23 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,073.22. This trade represents a 96.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 13,960 shares of AXOS FINANCIAL stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.38, for a total value of $1,191,904.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 67,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,759,734.80. This trade represents a 17.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded AXOS FINANCIAL from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AXOS FINANCIAL in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on AXOS FINANCIAL from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on AXOS FINANCIAL from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on AXOS FINANCIAL from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXOS FINANCIAL currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.86.

AXOS FINANCIAL Stock Performance

Shares of AXOS FINANCIAL stock traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.78. 304,034 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 311,612. AXOS FINANCIAL, INC has a 12-month low of $54.46 and a 12-month high of $93.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

AXOS FINANCIAL (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.12. AXOS FINANCIAL had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 22.24%.The firm had revenue of $321.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AXOS FINANCIAL, INC will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AXOS FINANCIAL announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, May 12th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.