Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Axon Enterprise Inc (NASDAQ:AAXN)

25 May 2020, 13:54 by Michael Walen

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise Inc (NASDAQ:AAXN) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Axon Enterprise were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 640.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 67,856 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after buying an additional 58,687 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 106,661 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,505,000 after buying an additional 14,901 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 124,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,829,000 after buying an additional 19,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.15% of the company’s stock.

Several analysts have commented on AAXN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Axon Enterprise from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Axon Enterprise from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Imperial Capital lifted their price target on Axon Enterprise from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. BidaskClub cut Axon Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, ValuEngine cut Axon Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.86.

Shares of NASDAQ:AAXN opened at $74.11 on Monday. Axon Enterprise Inc has a 1 year low of $49.80 and a 1 year high of $90.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,470.33 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.90.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AAXN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $147.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.92 million. Axon Enterprise had a negative return on equity of 0.28% and a negative net margin of 0.26%. Axon Enterprise’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Axon Enterprise Inc will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

In related news, Director Richard H. Carmona sold 45,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.29, for a total transaction of $3,843,764.43. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,481.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hadi Partovi purchased 20,000 shares of Axon Enterprise stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $55.47 per share, for a total transaction of $1,109,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 290,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,118,805.42. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 124,174 shares of company stock worth $10,197,595 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Axon Enterprise

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy weapons (CEWs) worldwide. The company operates through two segments, TASER and Software and Sensors. It offers TASER X26P, TASER X2, TASER 7, and TASER Pulse and Bolt CEWs; and related cartridges. The company also provides on-officer body cameras and Axon Fleet in-car video systems; and Axon Evidence connected software network; Axon Records cloud-based records management system; Axon Signal enabled devices; and computer-aided dispatch software, as well as Axon docks, cartridges, and batteries.