Ithaka Group LLC Makes New Investment in Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON)

Key Points

• Ithaka Group LLC acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise, Inc., purchasing 7,458 shares valued at approximately $3.9 million in the first quarter.
• Several large investors, including Capital World Investors and GAMMA Investing LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Axon, with institutional investors now owning 79.08% of the stock.
• AxonEnterprise reported earnings of $2.12 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 32.6% year-over-year.

Ithaka Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,458 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,923,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise during the 1st quarter worth $53,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 2.6% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,434 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,436,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Axon Enterprise by 29.8% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 927,801 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $487,977,000 after purchasing an additional 212,931 shares in the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axon Enterprise by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axon Enterprise in the 1st quarter valued at about $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXON has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $840.00 price target (up previously from $820.00) on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research note on Tuesday. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Axon Enterprise from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $900.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise from $730.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $870.00 target price on shares of Axon Enterprise and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $837.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brittany Bagley sold 3,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $700.00, for a total transaction of $2,380,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 131,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $92,283,100. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael Garnreiter sold 5,913 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $4,493,880.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,740 shares in the company, valued at $13,482,400. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,642 shares of company stock worth $25,090,528. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Axon Enterprise Stock Performance

NASDAQ AXON traded down $28.47 on Friday, hitting $842.50. 667,201 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,927. The firm has a market cap of $66.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.02, a P/E/G ratio of 96.51 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $774.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $664.69. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $346.71 and a fifty-two week high of $885.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 2.62.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.58. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 6.80% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $668.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Axon Enterprise Profile

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy devices (CEDs) under the TASER brand in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Software and Sensors, and TASER. The company also offers hardware and cloud-based software solutions that enable law enforcement to capture, securely store, manage, share, and analyze video and other digital evidence.