Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

AX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Axos Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Axos Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research lowered Axos Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Axos Financial in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.33.

Axos Financial Stock Performance

Axos Financial stock opened at $96.91 on Wednesday. Axos Financial has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $101.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.23.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.23). Axos Financial had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $392.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $372.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that Axos Financial will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axos Financial news, Director Roque A. Santi sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total transaction of $43,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $671,089.42. This represents a 6.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Watson sold 1,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.77, for a total transaction of $138,471.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,671.84. This represents a 26.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axos Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,696,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,315,000 after buying an additional 13,669 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Axos Financial by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,177,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,234,000 after buying an additional 7,509 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Axos Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,687,000 after purchasing an additional 62,269 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 740,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,319,000 after purchasing an additional 58,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 721,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,171,000 after purchasing an additional 52,250 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Axos Financial Company Profile

Axos Financial, Inc (NYSE: AX) is a diversified online banking and financial services holding company headquartered in San Diego, California. The firm traces its origins to 1999 with the launch of Bank of Internet USA and rebranded as Axos Financial in December 2018 to reflect an expanded suite of digital offerings. Axos Financial operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Axos Bank, providing a technology-driven banking platform that serves both retail and commercial clients across the United States.

Through its digital banking platform, Axos Financial delivers a range of deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as individual retirement accounts.