Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,290,000 shares, a growth of 6.4% from the August 15th total of 4,970,000 shares. Currently, 10.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 607,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Insider Activity at Axos Financial

In other Axos Financial news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 5,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.13, for a total value of $328,086.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 424,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,776,526.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 26.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,549,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,568,000 after buying an additional 321,494 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Axos Financial by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 795,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,428,000 after acquiring an additional 423,930 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Axos Financial by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 613,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,716 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Axos Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,573,000. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its position in shares of Axos Financial by 9.6% during the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 382,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,847,000 after purchasing an additional 33,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Axos Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

AX stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.34. 578,819 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 594,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Axos Financial has a fifty-two week low of $32.05 and a fifty-two week high of $79.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.58. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.40.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.80. Axos Financial had a net margin of 23.96% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The business 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 business posted $1.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Axos Financial will post 7.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AX shares. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $68.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Axos Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Axos Financial from $67.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Axos Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Axos Financial Company 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.