Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Axos Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AX - Free Report) by 27.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 320,717 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 70,017 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.56% of Axos Financial worth $20,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AX. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Axos Financial by 9.4% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 453,425 shares of the company's stock worth $28,512,000 after acquiring an additional 39,091 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Axos Financial by 287.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,200 shares of the company's stock worth $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 26,855 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Axos Financial by 9.9% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 183,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,479,000 after purchasing an additional 16,448 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Axos Financial by 32.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 142,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,974,000 after purchasing an additional 35,087 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Axos Financial by 13.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 213,572 shares of the company's stock worth $12,206,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Axos Financial

In other news, CEO Gregory Garrabrants sold 125,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total transaction of $10,236,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,340,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,763,472.53. This trade represents a 8.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Edward James Ratinoff sold 4,002 shares of Axos Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.41, for a total transaction of $317,798.82. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,669,456.69. This represents a 7.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.07% of the company's stock.

Axos Financial Price Performance

AX stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.29. 363,975 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,189. Axos Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.10 and a 52-week high of $88.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.76.

Axos Financial (NYSE:AX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.16. Axos Financial had a net margin of 24.07% and a return on equity of 18.99%. The company had revenue of $512.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $299.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Axos Financial, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Axos Financial from $74.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Axos Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Axos Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Axos Financial from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Axos Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $83.20.

About Axos Financial

Axos Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides consumer and business banking products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Banking Business and Securities Business. The company offers deposits products, including consumer and business checking, demand, savings, time deposit, money market, zero balance, and insured cash sweep accounts.