Needham & Company LLC Initiates Coverage on Axos Financial (NYSE:AX)

Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 35.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Axos Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Axos Financial from $68.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Axos Financial from $67.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on Axos Financial from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.20.

Axos Financial Stock Performance

NYSE AX opened at $60.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Axos Financial has a 1-year low of $32.05 and a 1-year high of $79.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.37 and a 200-day moving average of $59.86.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 23.96%. The company had revenue of $484.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $296.02 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Axos Financial will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 5,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.13, for a total value of $328,086.61. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 424,149 shares in the company, valued at $26,776,526.37. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axos Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 6.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 260,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,055,000 after purchasing an additional 14,953 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 17,288 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Axos Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $5,495,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Axos Financial by 7.2% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 187,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,136,000 after purchasing an additional 12,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Axos Financial by 37.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 45,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 12,560 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Axos Financial

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.