Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Axos Financial (NYSE:AX)

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 23.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on AX. StockNews.com upgraded Axos Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $74.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.20.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX stock opened at $68.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.93. Axos Financial has a one year low of $44.10 and a one year high of $88.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.46.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $512.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.59 million. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 24.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Axos Financial will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Axos Financial

In other Axos Financial news, CEO Gregory Garrabrants sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 8.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Edward James Ratinoff sold 4,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $317,798.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,209 shares in the company, valued at $3,669,456.69. This represents a 7.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axos Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Axos Financial by 5.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,178,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,877,000 after acquiring an additional 164,997 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,549,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,568,000 after purchasing an additional 321,494 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,444,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,861,000 after purchasing an additional 91,797 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Axos Financial by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,154,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,610,000 after purchasing an additional 292,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Axos Financial by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 708,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.