Axon Enterprise (NASDAQ:AXON) Trading Up 12% After Strong Earnings

Axon Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXON)’s share price rose 12% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $685.00 and last traded at $674.31. Approximately 461,838 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 751,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $601.82.

The biotechnology company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.07. Axon Enterprise had a return on equity of 7.50% and a net margin of 15.37%. The firm had revenue of $603.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $585.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Axon Enterprise’s quarterly revenue was up 31.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXON. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Axon Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Axon Enterprise from $600.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Craig Hallum cut Axon Enterprise from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Axon Enterprise from $726.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Axon Enterprise from $500.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Axon Enterprise currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $640.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Axon Enterprise news, Director Jeri Williams sold 307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.72, for a total value of $169,685.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $899,275.44. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Patrick W. Smith sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.99, for a total value of $5,409,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,063,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,657,583,622.18. This trade represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axon Enterprise

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXON. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Axon Enterprise by 33.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 136,302 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,466,000 after purchasing an additional 33,869 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Axon Enterprise by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,607 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,493,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Axon Enterprise in the fourth quarter valued at $295,000. Graypoint LLC bought a new position in Axon Enterprise during the fourth quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Axon Enterprise by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 15,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,335,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.08% of the company’s stock.

Axon Enterprise Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 2.63. The business has a fifty day moving average of $564.50 and a 200-day moving average of $583.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.24.

Axon Enterprise Company Profile

Axon Enterprise, Inc develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy devices (CEDs) under the TASER brand in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Software and Sensors, and TASER. The company also offers hardware and cloud-based software solutions that enable law enforcement to capture, securely store, manage, share, and analyze video and other digital evidence.