AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) Short Interest Up 8.5% in June

AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, a growth of 8.5% from the May 31st total of 1,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 319,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AxoGen

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in AxoGen by 8.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,820 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in AxoGen by 8.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,650 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 2,204 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AxoGen by 30.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,539 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in AxoGen by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,823 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in AxoGen by 534.6% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the last quarter. 80.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AxoGen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AXGN traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $7.50. The company had a trading volume of 108,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,856. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. AxoGen has a 52-week low of $3.45 and a 52-week high of $10.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.67 and a 200 day moving average of $7.81. The company has a market cap of $327.83 million, a PE ratio of -14.56 and a beta of 1.11.

AxoGen (NASDAQ:AXGN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical equipment provider reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.04. AxoGen had a negative return on equity of 22.18% and a negative net margin of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $41.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.05 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AxoGen will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXGN. Raymond James assumed coverage on AxoGen in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of AxoGen in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered AxoGen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.25.

About AxoGen

AxoGen, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and commercializes technologies for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair worldwide. The company's products include Avance Nerve Graft, a biologically active off-the-shelf processed human nerve allograft for bridging severed peripheral nerves without the comorbidities associated with a second surgical site; AxoGuard Nerve Connector, a porcine submucosa extracellular matrix (ECM) coaptation aid for tensionless repair of severed peripheral nerves; AxoGuard Nerve Protector, a porcine submucosa ECM product that is used to wrap and protect damaged peripheral nerves, as well as reinforces the nerve reconstruction while preventing soft tissue attachments; and Axoguard HA+ Nerve Protector, a processed porcine submucosa ECM base layer with a hyaluronate-alginate gel coating designed to provide short- and long-term protection for peripheral nerve injuries.