Royce & Associates LP Sells 33,005 Shares of AxoGen, Inc. $AXGN

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in shares of AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,039 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 33,005 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in AxoGen were worth $5,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of AxoGen by 28.2% in the third quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 5,805,730 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $103,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276,487 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of AxoGen by 183.9% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,250,968 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AxoGen in the third quarter valued at about $14,468,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of AxoGen by 85.1% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,433,782 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,557,000 after purchasing an additional 659,149 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AxoGen in the third quarter valued at about $11,500,000. 80.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXGN. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AxoGen in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Lake Street Capital increased their price objective 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 lowered shares of AxoGen from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AxoGen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of AxoGen from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AxoGen currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

AxoGen Trading Down 2.3%

AXGN stock opened at $39.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 5.33 and a current ratio of 7.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.37. AxoGen, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.22 and a 52 week high of $45.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of -61.69 and a beta of 1.17.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.05). AxoGen had a negative net margin of 13.21% and a negative return on equity of 9.63%. The business had revenue of $61.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AxoGen, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AxoGen

In related news, Director John Johnson sold 11,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.26, for a total value of $478,023.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $478,023. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy Mcbride Wendell sold 1,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $70,162.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 93,826 shares in the company, valued at $3,996,987.60. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,262 shares of company stock valued at $1,440,250. 2.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.