Axon Enterprise, Inc $AXON Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Axon Enterprise, Inc (NASDAQ:AXON) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,051 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Axon Enterprise were worth $5,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise by 55,955.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,781,849 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,317,352,000 after acquiring an additional 64,666,282 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC purchased a new position in Axon Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at $846,516,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Axon Enterprise by 326.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,539,738 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $874,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,038 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Axon Enterprise during the 4th quarter worth $515,764,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Axon Enterprise during the 2nd quarter worth about $286,684,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.08% of the company’s stock.

Axon Enterprise News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Axon Enterprise this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst remains bullish: TD Cowen reaffirmed Axon as a top pick with a Buy rating and an $825 price target, citing an expected shift by cities toward Axon’s automated license-plate-recognition contracts. TD Cowen Axon analyst rating
• Positive Sentiment: Large Baltimore contract: Baltimore Police is adding 200 Axon license-plate cameras as part of a broader $153 million deal, supporting the company’s public-safety technology backlog and recurring-revenue opportunity. Baltimore Police Axon contract
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and market factors: Analysts attributed the weakness primarily to profit-taking and broader risk-off trading in premium-valued growth stocks, rather than a new operational setback. A technical analysis identified the roughly $505 area as an important support level. Analysis of Axon share decline
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns: A research report argued that rising sales and strong net revenue retention may not be sufficient to justify Axon’s elevated share price. The stock’s high earnings multiple leaves it vulnerable to additional multiple compression if growth expectations moderate. Axon earnings and valuation report
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds pressure: CEO Patrick Smith sold 10,000 shares worth approximately $5.1 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The planned nature of the transaction reduces its significance, but repeated insider sales and no reported insider purchases can weigh on sentiment. Axon CEO SEC filing

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeffrey Kunins sold 9,605 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.70, for a total value of $6,019,453.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 97,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,266,818.70. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Patrick Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.99, for a total transaction of $5,089,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,118,012 shares in the company, valued at $1,587,036,927.88. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 66,380 shares of company stock worth $37,672,266 over the last 90 days. 4.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Axon Enterprise Stock Down 2.3%

Axon Enterprise stock opened at $478.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 198.69, a P/E/G ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $564.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $488.42. Axon Enterprise, Inc has a 1-year low of $339.01 and a 1-year high of $792.16.

Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.04. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 2.84% and a net margin of 6.19%.The business had revenue of $904.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $876.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Axon Enterprise, Inc will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXON. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axon Enterprise in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Axon Enterprise from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Axon Enterprise from $440.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Axon Enterprise from $724.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axon Enterprise currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $721.57.

Axon Enterprise Company Profile

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops technology and equipment for law enforcement, public safety and other government agencies. Its product portfolio includes TASER energy weapons, body-worn cameras, in-car cameras and related connected devices designed to support safer interactions, improve transparency and collect operational data.

The company also provides cloud-based software for managing digital evidence, conducting investigations, overseeing records and workflows, coordinating dispatch and supporting real-time public safety operations.