AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) Stock Bumped Up to “Strong-Buy” by Barclays

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of AxoGen from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AxoGen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AxoGen in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of AxoGen in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of AxoGen from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.70.

AxoGen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AXGN opened at $36.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of -53.21 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 6.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.90. AxoGen has a twelve month low of $15.27 and a twelve month high of $52.91.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.12. The company had revenue of $69.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.10 million. AxoGen had a negative return on equity of 8.90% and a negative net margin of 13.36%. On average, analysts anticipate that AxoGen will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AxoGen

In other AxoGen news, Director Amy Wendell sold 13,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.42, for a total transaction of $646,552.26. Following the transaction, the director owned 107,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,228,197.92. This represents a 11.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 owned 50,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,373,390.90. The trade was a 57.38% decrease in their position. 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 98,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,656,947 in the last 90 days. 2.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXGN. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of AxoGen by 27.5% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 1,780,992 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $74,659,000 after acquiring an additional 384,200 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AxoGen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $272,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in AxoGen during the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in AxoGen by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,604 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in AxoGen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 80.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AxoGen

AxoGen, Inc is a medical technology company focused on repairing and regenerating damaged peripheral nerves. The company develops and commercializes products for use by surgeons treating traumatic nerve injuries and other conditions in which nerve function has been compromised.

AxoGen’s product portfolio includes Avance Nerve Graft, a processed human nerve allograft designed to bridge gaps in damaged nerves without requiring tissue to be taken from another part of the patient’s body. Its offerings also include Axoguard Nerve Connector and Axoguard Nerve Protector products, which are designed to support nerve repair and protect nerves during healing, as well as other products for peripheral nerve reconstruction.

Founded in 2002, AxoGen is headquartered in Alachua, Florida.