Axos Financial Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AX)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 26th, 2023

Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX – Get Rating) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 20,012 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,471% compared to the average daily volume of 1,274 put options.

Insider Activity at Axos Financial

In related news, Director Paul Grinberg purchased 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.80 per share, with a total value of $49,896.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 69,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,628,687.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Axos Financial news, Director Paul Grinberg bought 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.80 per share, with a total value of $49,896.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 69,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,628,687.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew J. Micheletti sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.02, for a total value of $480,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 514,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,715,365.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Axos Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 24.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 41,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after acquiring an additional 8,272 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Axos Financial by 96.2% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,308 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Axos Financial by 4.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Axos Financial by 9.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Axos Financial by 53.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Axos Financial from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Raymond James cut their target price on Axos Financial from $55.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Axos Financial from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Wedbush raised their target price on Axos Financial from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Axos Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.50.

Axos Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:AX opened at $35.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.30 and a 200 day moving average of $42.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.45. Axos Financial has a 1-year low of $33.15 and a 1-year high of $51.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.15. Axos Financial had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 27.07%. The firm had revenue of $228.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $217.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Axos Financial will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Axos Financial

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Axos Financial, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and financing services. It operates through the following segments: Banking Business and Securities Business. The Banking Business segment includes online banking, concierge banking, prepaid card services, and mortgage, vehicle, and unsecured lending through online and telephonic distribution channels.