Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) Price Target to $255.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Axsome to $255 from $225 and kept an "overweight" rating, joining several other analysts lifting targets and contributing to a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of about $245.79.
• Axsome reported Q1 revenue of $191.2 million (up 57% year-over-year) but missed on EPS, posting a ($1.26) loss versus a ($0.85) consensus, leaving margins and ROE deeply negative.
• Insiders sold roughly 67,878 shares worth about $11.12 million in the last three months (insiders now own 22.3%), while institutional investors hold about 81.49% of the stock.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $225.00 to $255.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.18% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AXSM. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $219.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $241.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 research report on Friday. Truist Financial upgraded Axsome Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Axsome Therapeutics from $251.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $245.79.

Axsome Therapeutics Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AXSM opened at $229.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.09 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day moving average is $170.95 and its 200 day moving average is $162.68. Axsome Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $96.09 and a 52 week high of $234.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.55.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $191.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $191.10 million. Axsome Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 232.61% and a negative net margin of 28.69%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Axsome Therapeutics will post -1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ari Maizel sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.42, for a total transaction of $1,368,150.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,368,150. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Mark L. Jacobson sold 35,378 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,878 shares of company stock valued at $11,122,891. 22.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Axsome Therapeutics by 20,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 204 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Axsome Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Axsome Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 82.3% during the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 288 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Axsome Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 81.49% of the company's stock.

Axsome Therapeutics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its price target sharply to $310 (from $228) and kept an "outperform" rating, implying ~38% upside versus the cited $224 level. This is a material, bullish analyst endorsement that can drive buying interest. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird lifted its target to $246 and maintained an "outperform" rating, signaling incremental analyst conviction and additional upside (~9.8% vs $224). Benzinga / The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Strong top-line growth: Q1 net product revenue was $191.2M (+57% YoY) with Auvelity and Sunosi contributing most of the gain. Management also reported an FDA approval for Auvelity for agitation associated with dementia, submitted an NDA for AXS‑12 (cataplexy), and added AXS‑20 to the pipeline — all items that support long-term commercial and pipeline optionality. GlobeNewswire: Q1 results & business update
• Positive Sentiment: Management set up multiple investor appearances (BofA Health Care Conference, fireside chat, etc.), increasing visibility and giving analysts/investors more access to guidance and commercialization detail. GlobeNewswire: Investor conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus is a "Moderate Buy," reflecting mixed sentiment across firms rather than uniform bullishness. American Banking News
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript, slide deck and analyst pieces are available for deeper read — useful for assessing cadence of product sales and management commentary but not immediate price catalysts by themselves. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage and metric write-ups (Zacks, Kalkine, etc.) are highlighting both the revenue strength and areas to monitor; these pieces may influence shorter-term flows but are interpretive. Zacks Kalkine
• Negative Sentiment: EPS missed expectations: Q1 loss was ($1.26) vs. consensus ($0.85) — a meaningful miss that pressures near-term sentiment and valuation, and the company still reports negative margins and very high negative ROE. MarketBeat
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and write-ups flag sequential sales declines for Auvelity and Sunosi and label management's peak revenue targets as ambitious — raises risk that future quarters must show sustained commercial momentum to justify high multiples. Seeking Alpha

Axsome Therapeutics Company Profile

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.

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.