Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX) by 27.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 320,717 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,017 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Axos Financial were worth $20,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Axos Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Axos Financial in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Axos Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Axos Financial by 881.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 648 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Axos Financial by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 982 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Edward James Ratinoff sold 4,002 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 46,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,669,456.69. This represents a 7.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Garrabrants sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $109,763,472.53. The trade was a 8.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Axos Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Axos Financial from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Axos Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $74.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axos Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.20.

Axos Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

AX stock opened at $72.61 on Friday. Axos Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $44.10 and a one year high of $88.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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

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.