Two Insiders Scooped Up Taser-Maker Axon Stock in May and June
Two insiders have been buying shares of Axon Enterprises (US:AXON) in recent weeks, data compiled by Fintel shows. Moreover, many funds have been buying meaningful amounts of the company that makes Taser stun guns and body cameras used by police officers. But on the other hand, AXON stock’s put/call ratios are not particularly bullish, the data shows.
Those moves come as the stock has lost 0.7% of its value over the past month. In the same period, SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (US:XAR) has added 4.6%. That exchange-traded fund has AXON stock at a 4% weight among its 33 holdings.
Also notable is that JPMorgan upgraded AXON stock to ‘overweight’ in May and that many large institutions and funds bought the shares in the first quarter.
Significant Insider Buying
Axon board member Hadi Partovi purchased a total of about $805,000 of AXON stock in May and June, while CFO Brittany Bagley acquired $50,000 of the shares in May.
Conversely, two insiders sold Axon stock during the two-month period, with COO Joshua Isner parting ways with $690,000 of the name in May and board member Julie Cullivan unloading $599,000 of the stock.
No insider sold any of their AXON stock in June.
Put/Call Ratios Aren’t Bullish
Options traders may be changing their sentiment on AXON shares. The put/call ratio declined to 0.89 on July 5, as traders came back from their July 4th holiday. The put/call ratio was 0.94 on both July 3 and June 30. It was at 1.04 on June 29. Since puts are generally a bearish bet and calls are a bullish bet, put/call ratios greater than 1 indicate a bearish sentiment, and ratios less than one indicate a bullish sentiment.
Institutional Buying
Last month, many funds acquired AXON stock. Among the funds buying significant amounts of the shares for the first time last month were the Old Westbury Large Cap Strategies Fund, which bought $37.3 million of the stock, Invesco’s AIM Investment Funds, which acquired $34.2 million of the name, and the iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA Small Cap ETF which obtained nearly $2.15 million of the shares.
Impressively, in the first quarter, Korea Investment Corp, South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, bought $2.84 million worth of the shares, representing its first purchase of AXON stock while Sands Capital Management, also buying the shares for the first time, obtained a huge $222.28 million of the stock.
Other noteworthy buyers include the huge European insurer Allianz, which scooped up nearly 6,000 shares for $7.54 million, Toronto Dominion Bank, which obtained 18,754 shares, and the large Japanese bank, Nomura, which bought 15,677 shares for $3.5 million.
JPMorgan’s Upgrade
On May 11, JPMorgan raised AXON stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’. Among the catalysts cited by the bank were a 15% decline driven by what it saw as “temporary headwinds” and an increase in the company’s top-line guidance. JPMorgan believes that the company’s revenue increase will enable its EBITDA to increase in 2023, and the firm views the company’s operating leverage as “solid.”
The bank’s 12-month price target of $236 was well above the $194 level where AXON shares closed on July 5.
This article originally appeared on Fintel
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