Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Makes New $3.41 Million Investment in AxoGen, Inc. $AXGN

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 73,903 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its stake in AxoGen by 1.2% during the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 4,529,243 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $49,142,000 after purchasing an additional 55,028 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AxoGen by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,869,955 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,934,000 after purchasing an additional 190,557 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AxoGen by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,586,870 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $84,668,000 after buying an additional 157,029 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of AxoGen by 183.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,931,158 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $20,953,000 after buying an additional 1,250,968 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AxoGen by 101.1% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,857,350 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $61,534,000 after buying an additional 933,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AxoGen

In other AxoGen news, EVP Marc A. Began sold 67,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total transaction of $3,195,450.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 50,135 shares in the company, valued at $2,373,390.90. This represents a 57.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Amy Mcbride Wendell sold 13,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.42, for a total value of $646,552.26. Following the transaction, the director owned 107,976 shares in the company, valued at $5,228,197.92. This trade represents a 11.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 95,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,482,997 over the last quarter. 2.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AxoGen Price Performance

Shares of AXGN opened at $49.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of -72.28 and a beta of 1.11. AxoGen, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.64 and a 1-year high of $49.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 6.60 and a quick ratio of 5.04.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.12. The firm had revenue of $69.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.10 million. AxoGen had a negative net margin of 13.36% and a negative return on equity of 8.90%. As a group, analysts forecast that AxoGen, Inc. will post -0.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXGN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $55.00 price target on shares of AxoGen in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded AxoGen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on AxoGen from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AxoGen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price target on AxoGen from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AxoGen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

About AxoGen

AxoGen, Inc is a Florida-based medical technology company that develops and commercializes surgical solutions for peripheral nerve damage. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Alachua, Florida, the company focuses on restoring nerve function and improving patient outcomes through innovative biologic and engineered products. AxoGen’s offerings address a range of traumatic and iatrogenic injuries, offering alternatives to traditional nerve autografts.

The company’s core product portfolio includes the Avance® Nerve Graft, a decellularized human nerve allograft designed to bridge nerve gaps without the need for a secondary harvest site, and the Axoguard® Nerve Connector and Protector devices, which facilitate nerve coaptation and protect repaired sites from surrounding scar tissue.