Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $2.66 Million Position in AxoGen, Inc. $AXGN

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its stake in AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,143 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 32,489 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in AxoGen were worth $2,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXGN. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of AxoGen by 14.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,043 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AxoGen by 45.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,917 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 7,453 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AxoGen by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,185 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of AxoGen by 104,810.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,491 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 10,481 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of AxoGen by 37.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 379,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,113,000 after purchasing an additional 103,072 shares during the period. 80.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amy Mcbride Wendell sold 1,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total value of $70,162.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 93,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,996,987.60. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathy Johnson Weiler sold 16,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.09, for a total value of $720,606.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,606.96. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,041 shares of company stock valued at $1,268,792 over the last quarter. 2.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AxoGen Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AxoGen stock opened at $43.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.69 and a 200-day moving average of $34.81. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -67.81 and a beta of 1.12. AxoGen, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.22 and a 52-week high of $45.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 5.33 and a current ratio of 7.10.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $61.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.85 million. AxoGen had a negative net margin of 13.21% and a negative return on equity of 9.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AxoGen, Inc. will post -0.37 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered AxoGen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of AxoGen from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of AxoGen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AxoGen from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AxoGen in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

AxoGen Company Profile

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.