HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) by 220.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,348 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,180 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Axos Financial were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Axos Financial by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 281,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,711,000 after buying an additional 32,095 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 32.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 142,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,974,000 after purchasing an additional 35,087 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 337,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,604,000 after purchasing an additional 17,201 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Axos Financial during the 4th quarter worth $9,849,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Axos Financial by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axos Financial news, Director Sara Wardell-Smith purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.73 per share, for a total transaction of $194,190.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $663,482.50. This trade represents a 41.38 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Axos Financial Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE AX opened at $64.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.96. Axos Financial, Inc. has a 12 month low of $44.10 and a 12 month high of $88.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.45.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.10% and a return on equity of 18.67%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axos Financial, Inc. will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Axos Financial from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Axos Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $96.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Axos Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.17.

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.