Man Group plc Buys Shares of 10,354 Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON

Key Points

• Man Group initiated a position in Axon Enterprise by purchasing 10,354 shares worth approximately $5.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.08% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $730.92; recent targets range from $640 to $715.
• Axon exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.88 in EPS and $904.39 million in revenue, up 35.3% year over year. However, insiders have sold 76,594 shares worth about $41.2 million over the past 90 days.

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,354 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $5,805,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Axon Enterprise by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,518 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,002 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Axon Enterprise by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 426,533 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $242,241,000 after purchasing an additional 5,419 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Axon Enterprise in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,116,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,854,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Axon Enterprise in the 1st quarter valued at about $15,067,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXON. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Axon Enterprise from $600.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Axon Enterprise in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $715.00 price target on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $730.92.

Axon Enterprise Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AXON opened at $600.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 249.27, a PEG ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.39. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a one year low of $339.01 and a one year high of $792.16. The company's fifty day moving average is $560.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $904.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $876.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Axon Enterprise's revenue was up 35.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Elizabeth Reid Coughlin sold 1,554 shares of Axon Enterprise stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.00, for a total value of $753,690.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Patrick W. Smith sold 9,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $548.77, for a total transaction of $5,449,286.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,031,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,663,358,637.59. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 76,594 shares of company stock valued at $41,236,386. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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