StockNews.com Downgrades Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) to Sell

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AX. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Axos Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Axos Financial from $67.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Axos Financial from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $68.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.80.

Axos Financial Price Performance

Axos Financial stock opened at $80.53 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.19. Axos Financial has a 52 week low of $36.93 and a 52 week high of $85.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. Axos Financial had a net margin of 24.07% and a return on equity of 18.99%. The firm had revenue of $512.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Axos Financial will post 7.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Axos Financial news, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 5,197 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.13, for a total transaction of $328,086.61. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 424,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,776,526.37. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Garrabrants sold 125,000 shares of Axos Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total value of $10,236,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,340,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,763,472.53. The trade was a 8.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AX. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Axos Financial by 1.3% during the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 10,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Axos Financial by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 1.6% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.