Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Axsome Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised Axsome Therapeutics from a “reduce” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $225.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Axsome Therapeutics from $228.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Axsome Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $261.48.

Axsome Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AXSM opened at $239.62 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.24 and a beta of 0.60. Axsome Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $96.09 and a 52-week high of $260.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $238.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.87.

Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AXSM) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $191.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $191.10 million. Axsome Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 26.59% and a negative return on equity of 267.16%. Axsome Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Axsome Therapeutics will post -2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Axsome Therapeutics

In other news, Director Susan Mahony sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total transaction of $71,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $267,810.09. This trade represents a 20.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Herriot Tabuteau sold 49,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.25, for a total value of $11,932,256.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 7,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,736,767.25. This represents a 87.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,852 shares of company stock worth $37,230,112. 20.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Axsome Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,509,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,763,000 after acquiring an additional 472,422 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Axsome Therapeutics by 84.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,334,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,082,000 after acquiring an additional 609,516 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Axsome Therapeutics by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,273,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,591,000 after purchasing an additional 282,937 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Axsome Therapeutics by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,544,000 after acquiring an additional 12,549 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Axsome Therapeutics by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 958,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,058,000 after purchasing an additional 52,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.49% of the company’s stock.

About Axsome Therapeutics

Axsome Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company focuses on small-molecule drugs designed to address unmet medical needs in areas such as depression, migraine, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia. Axsome employs a precision medicine approach, leveraging pharmacologic innovation to target underlying mechanisms of disease and improve patient outcomes.

Axsome’s pipeline includes several late-stage and approved product candidates.