Wall Street Zen Downgrades AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) to Buy

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AXGN. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on AxoGen from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on AxoGen in a report on Thursday, February 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on AxoGen from $26.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on AxoGen from $27.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of AxoGen in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AxoGen has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.67.

AxoGen Trading Down 0.5%

AXGN stock opened at $31.73 on Friday. AxoGen has a 52 week low of $9.22 and a 52 week high of $36.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -93.32 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 3.31 and a current ratio of 5.11.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). AxoGen had a negative net margin of 6.97% and a negative return on equity of 13.44%. The business had revenue of $59.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AxoGen will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kathy Johnson Weiler sold 46,653 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.55, for a total transaction of $1,378,596.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John Johnson sold 23,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.24, for a total value of $740,169.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,524.84. The trade was a 64.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 301,680 shares of company stock worth $9,174,052 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AxoGen

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AxoGen by 28.2% during the third quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 5,805,730 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $103,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,487 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AxoGen by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,869,955 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $93,934,000 after acquiring an additional 190,557 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in AxoGen by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,586,870 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $84,668,000 after acquiring an additional 157,029 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its position in AxoGen by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,958,406 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,938,000 after acquiring an additional 332,498 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of AxoGen by 183.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,931,158 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $20,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,968 shares during the last quarter. 80.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AxoGen Company Profile

AxoGen, Inc is a Florida-based medical technology company that develops and commercializes surgical solutions for peripheral nerve damage. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Alachua, Florida, the company focuses on restoring nerve function and improving patient outcomes through innovative biologic and engineered products. AxoGen’s offerings address a range of traumatic and iatrogenic injuries, offering alternatives to traditional nerve autografts.

The company’s core product portfolio includes the Avance® Nerve Graft, a decellularized human nerve allograft designed to bridge nerve gaps without the need for a secondary harvest site, and the Axoguard® Nerve Connector and Protector devices, which facilitate nerve coaptation and protect repaired sites from surrounding scar tissue.