Raymond James Financial Inc. Reduces Stake in Axos Financial, Inc $AX

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its stake in AXOS FINANCIAL by 22.5%, now holding about 182,729 shares valued at $11.79 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently adjusted their holdings in AXOS FINANCIAL, with American Century Companies increasing its stake by 14.7% during the first quarter.
• AXOS FINANCIAL reported a significant earnings beat with $1.94 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.82, and indicated robust revenue growth of 10.5% year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Axos Financial, Inc (NYSE:AX - Free Report) by 22.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 182,729 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,981 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.32% of Axos Financial worth $11,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 1,700.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 39.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the company's stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 37.2% during the 1st quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Axos Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Axos Financial

In related news, EVP Candace L. Thiele sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total value of $63,098.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23 shares in the company, valued at $2,073.22. This represents a 96.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 13,960 shares of Axos Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.38, for a total value of $1,191,904.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.09. 64,253 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,716. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Axos Financial, Inc has a one year low of $54.46 and a one year high of $93.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.16.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $321.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $311.73 million. Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 17.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Axos Financial, Inc will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Axos Financial declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 12th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Axos Financial from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Axos Financial from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Axos Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.86.

Axos Financial Profile

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.