Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. $AXSM

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in Axsome by 1.4% to 363,114 shares (about $66.32M) in Q4, while institutional investors collectively own roughly 81.49% of the company.
• Q1 was mixed: revenue rose about 57% YoY to $191.2M driven by AUVELITY and SUNOSI, but GAAP EPS missed at ($1.26) versus ($0.85) consensus, raising near‑term profitability concerns.
• Insider selling has been notable—72,628 shares (~$12.2M) were sold over the last three months, and insiders now own 20.6% of the stock.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXSM - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 363,114 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,320 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.72% of Axsome Therapeutics worth $66,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXSM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 6.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,180,646 shares of the company's stock worth $507,739,000 after purchasing an additional 235,626 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 84.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,334,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,082,000 after purchasing an additional 609,516 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 73.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 990,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,303,000 after purchasing an additional 419,008 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 5.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 958,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,058,000 after purchasing an additional 52,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 12.3% during the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 900,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,305,000 after purchasing an additional 98,629 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.49% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Axsome Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Axsome Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong commercial revenue: Q1 product revenue showed ~57% YoY growth (AUVELITY and SUNOSI drove results), which supports the company’s commercial traction and medium‑term revenue outlook. Axsome 1Q 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and price‑target increases: several firms raised targets or reiterated buy/outperform views (supporting upside conviction and liquidity for the stock). AXSM MarketBeat Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline catalysts remain: regulatory and clinical moves (AUVELITY label expansion, NDA activity for other programs) could produce medium/long‑term upside if approvals and launches proceed. Business Update & Pipeline Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate: multiple recent articles discuss whether AXSM’s one‑year share surge leaves it fully priced — this creates two‑sided investor debate between growth expectations and stretched multiples. Assessing Axsome Valuation (Yahoo) Is Axsome Fully Priced? (Yahoo) How AXSM Story Is Shifting (Yahoo UK)
• Neutral Sentiment: Non‑financial PR: the company’s Mental Health Month outreach is reputationally positive but unlikely to move short‑term fundamentals. Axsome Recognizes Mental Health Month
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and profitability concerns: GAAP EPS for Q1 came in worse than consensus (wider loss than expected), which highlights near‑term margin and earnings recovery risk despite healthy revenue growth. Q1 Loss Widens; Revenues Jump (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright sharply cut near‑term and FY2026/FY2027 EPS estimates in a May 5 note (though it retained a Buy rating and $290 target) — downward revision of expected earnings can depress short‑term sentiment and raise questions about timing to profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: COO Mark Jacobson sold shares in early May (disclosed SEC filing), which some investors interpret as a modest negative signal even if routine. SEC Filing: Insider Sale

Insider Activity at Axsome Therapeutics

In related news, insider Ari Maizel sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.42, for a total transaction of $1,368,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,368,150. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Mark L. Jacobson sold 35,378 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.88, for a total value of $5,726,990.64. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 72,628 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,662. Insiders own 20.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXSM shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer set a $280.00 price objective on Axsome Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Axsome Therapeutics from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Axsome Therapeutics from $217.00 to $242.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Axsome Therapeutics from $242.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $251.26.

Axsome Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AXSM opened at $219.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27. Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.09 and a 12-month high of $234.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.93 and a beta of 0.59.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.41). Axsome Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 267.16% and a negative net margin of 26.59%.The business had revenue of $191.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $191.10 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company focuses on small-molecule drugs designed to address unmet medical needs in areas such as depression, migraine, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia. Axsome employs a precision medicine approach, leveraging pharmacologic innovation to target underlying mechanisms of disease and improve patient outcomes.

Axsome's pipeline includes several late-stage and approved product candidates.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AXSM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXSM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.